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Legendary Shucker and Friend Will be Missed |
Vernon Johnson passed away on June 19th, 2010. Known nationwide as the Gentleman Shucker, Vernon Johnson had a deep love for the Chesapeake that was only surpassed by his warm affection for people. His warmth would set anyone at ease, falling into an easy friendship within minutes of talking with him. Vernon's story-telling and jovial smile became legendary as he traveled to compete in oyster shucking contests up and down the East Coast. Not only did he win prizes, but he won the hearts of those privileged to meet him.
Vernon's lifelong love of oysters sprang out of his care and adoration of the Chesapeake Bay. He came to love the Bay from his childhood when he would visit his grandparents' farm on the Rappahannock. At the age of eight he began helping his father and uncle Newton Robbins, both shuckers for the Oyster Roasts since the 1950's. Vernon took over the business with George and Bob Hastings along with his cousin Dean Robbins.
Vernon played a founding role in ORP's Shell Recycling Alliance, which collects used oyster shells from restaurants in Baltimore, Annapolis, and Washington, DC metro area and reuses the shells for oyster planting. Vernon's own museum quality collection of oyster industry memorabilia was one of his greatest joys. His joy and love in life not only served to help restore the Bay, but also to create deep friendships with the people around him. He is survived by his wife Ann and his three children: Annie, Laura and Chris. He will be deeply missed.
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| Find us on Facebook | |
 Visit our ORP Fan Page today! Send any content ideas to the Fan Page Administrator.
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| Become a Sponsor | |
 Several new restaurants joined the newly
established Oyster Shell Recycling Alliance. We're currently looking for a 2010-2011 sponsor. Learn more today!
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| Oyster Seed for Sale | |
 The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Horn Point Laboratory and the Oyster Recovery Partnership are working cooperatively to produce and offer watermen and other interested individuals high quality oyster larvae and seed. We offer a variety of C. Virginica larvae, seed and spat on shell in multiple sizes as well as triploid and other disease resistant strains.
Placing Your Order
If you are interested in making a purchase, please call 410.990.4970 or email your order to sabel@oysterrecovery.org. Upon finalizing details and receiving payment, we will set up a mutually convenient time for your order pick-up or delivery. Based on seed availability, we plan on offering Thursday afternoon pick-ups from the hatchery located outside of Cambridge through the end of August.
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| Outreach Events |
July 29-30, 2010
Grasonville, MD
September 10-12, 2010
Sandy Point State Park
Annapolis, Maryland
September 18, 2010
Baltimore, Maryland
Daily
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| Oyster News | |
July 2, 2010
July 3, 2010
July 6, 2010
July 6, 2010
July 9, 2010
July 16, 2010
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| Meet Our Board Members |
 Dan Lyons
Dan has always been an active supporter of the industries served by his company. For more than 50 years, Dan also served the communities around him as a paid and volunteer firefighter. He was President of Lombard, Illinois Volunteer Fire Company and is a current member of the Bethany Beach Volunteer Fire Department, still responding to fires, assisting younger firefighters and serving on numerous committees. Dan is a graduate of the University of Maryland and served in the United States Air Force as a Logistics Officer. He has continued service as a Reservist until recently being placed into the Air Force Retired Reserves. A native of Washington, DC, Dan grew up in Silver Spring, MD where he and his wife of 57 years, Peggy, attended Montgomery Blair High School. He makes his home in Bethany, Delaware and enjoys spending time with his 2 grandchildren. |
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About the Oyster Recovery Partnership |
 Since 1994, the non-profit Oyster Recovery Partnership and its coalition of partners have been producing and planting hundreds of millions of oysters back into the Chesapeake Bay. Working with more than a dozen stakeholder groups to rehabilitate historic and relic oyster bars, the Oyster Recovery Partnership has rehabilitated more than 1,300 acres of once viable oyster reefs. Dedicated to restoring the ecologic and economic benefits of the Bay, the Oyster Recovery Partnership has become Maryland's leader in revitalizing the Bay's once productive Eastern oyster. |
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| Oyster Recovery Partnership: Clean, Protect, and Restore Our Bay | |
As the Gulf of Mexico oil spill darkens the Gulf waters and its shoreline, our empathy heightens as we know firsthand how difficult it is to keep our own treasured waters clean -- even without such a catastrophic event to block progress. This also renews our urgency to continue our quest in restoring the Chesapeake Bay. Two ways that Maryland oyster restoration partners have united to clean and protect the Bay are through oyster planting and the Marylanders Grow Oysters program. Oyster Planting
Oyster Recovery Partnership planting vessel the Robert Lee opens the 2010 oyster planting season. |
Last year, ORP's field operation transported over 650 million hatchery-raised, spat-on-shell oysters produced at the UMCES Horn Point Laboratory and planted them on hundreds of acres of pre-selected and prepared oyster reefs around Maryland's portion of the Chesapeake Bay.
Oyster hatchery tanks at UMCES Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge, MD. |
With 22 plantings already complete, we are on track for another record year of production. A huge thank you goes out to the crew at the UMCES Horn Point Hatchery -- without your tireless effort we wouldn't have a planting season!
Marylanders Grow Oysters
Launched in 2008, the Marylanders Grow Oysters program began in the Tred Avon River with 858 cages of spat. This premier local oyster stewardship program has quickly expanded its reach to pursue its goal of conservation. Marylanders Grow Oysters allows hundreds of waterfront property owners to grow young oysters in cages off of their piers. These homeowners protect the baby oysters, or spat, for a year when they are picked up by MD DNR, a cadre of local growers or ORP, and planted on local sanctuaries. Partners in the program include the Oyster Recovery Partnership, the MD Department of Natural Resources, the Nanticoke Watershed Alliance, and local volunteers. ORP field crew member Bud Wiley pours the spat on shell, carefully raised by the waterfront homeowner, into ORP's basket to transport it to the local sanctuary. |
To date, oysters are being collected from growers in 12 tributaries with over 6,000 cages holding about 300 oysters each. Later this summer, the program will add 7 more tributaries, with an additional 2,400 cages being added. Current participants include private pier owners who grow oysters that will enhance a sanctuary site. Oysters are received as spat and about 9 months later are collected back as small oysters about 1-2 inches in size. They are then planted in a sanctuary in or near the tributary where they were grown. This program continues to be an effective way citizens can participate in cleaning and protecting the Bay. If you would like more information, contact Chris Judy, DNR Marylanders Grow Oysters at cjudy@dnr.state.md.us.
Thank you for your continued support of oyster restoration work for our Chesapeake Bay. We look forward to seeing you on the Bay.
Stephan Abel, Executive Director
Oyster Recovery Partnership |
| ORP Outreach and Education: Students Use 'Oyster Man' to Explain Why the Bay Needs More Oysters | |
ORP's Bryan Gomes teaches Mayo Elementary 5th graders about oysters on Earth Day 2010. |
The Oyster Recovery Partnership is having a productive summer educating the public about the importance of oysters during many community events.
Bryan Gomes of ORP taught fifth-graders from Mayo Elementary School about the importance of preserving our environment and how we can help restore the Chesapeake Bay. The 5th grade class made 'Oyster Man' as part of their annual Earth Day project to help explain why the Chesapeake needs more oysters to purify the water and create homes for other animals. 'Oyster Man' boldly proclaimed that students STOP - Save The Oysters Please.
ORP Participates in the 7th Annual NOAA Restoration Day and Chesapeake Green Living Festival
The Oyster Recovery Partnership assisted in the planting demonstration of spat on shell in the Tred Avon River in support of the NOAA Restoration Day held at the Oxford Cooperative Lab in Oxford, Maryland on June 15th. Employees from NOAA and the EPA were in attendance to assist in activities related to restoring different parts of the Chesapeake Bay ecosystem.
The Oyster Recovery Partnership was among the exhibitors at the Chesapeake Green Living Festival, held June 19-20 at the Anne Arundel County Fair Grounds. The festival was a marketplace for all things environmental: products, services, energy savings, tax credits, environmental jobs, sustainable living, natural resources and more. It promoted commerce between green businesses to create a marketplace unified to heal the planet. Festival-goers also had the opportunity to learn about oysters and oyster restoration between browsing solar panels and herbal products. The Oyster Recovery Partnership was pleased to be one of more than 80 exhibitors at the festival, all committed to a healthier environment. |
| Ask a Scientist | |
Spat on shell. Photo by Erika Nortemann | Q: What is spat?
A: Spat are baby oysters. Oysters are broadcast spawners -- meaning that their eggs and sperm are expelled into the water column and fertilization occurs externally. Once fertilized, the eggs transform into free swimming larvae that float 7-18 days in the water before settling. Regardless of its microscopic size, each larva has a small shell complete with muscle and a foot. Once its swimming stage is over, the larva stretches its foot, settles to the bottom, hopefully on a solid surface, and "cements" itself into place. This life stage is known as an "oyster spat". Once anchored into place, an oyster spat begins growing their shell, which can grow up to 7 inches long as adult oysters.
Steven Allen, MSc, Senior Manager, Aquatic Restoration & Scientific Diver, Oyster Recovery Partnership |
| Partner Profile | |  The InterContinental Harbor Court Baltimore (IHG) has become an environmental partner with the Oyster Recovery Partnership. In an effort to reduce hotel impact on the Chesapeake Bay, this hotel offers guests the opportunity to conserve water by reducing the linens they use. A portion of the savings will be donated to planting oysters back into the Chesapeake Bay. This IHG hotel has devoted every weekday for their "Oysters & Pearls" event offering oysters and champagne to both hotel and dinner guests with proceeds going towards supporting a sustainable oyster fishery. |
| Oyster Shell Recycling Alliance Welcomes New Restaurants | |
Several new restaurants joined our Shell Recycling Alliance.  ORP welcomes Ocean City restaurants: Embers Seafood Buffet, Fager's Island, Harrison Harborwatch, Phillips Restaurtants, Reflections Raw Bar, and The Bonfire Buffet; Annapolis restaurant, The Rockfish; and D.C. restaurant, The Oceanaire. Our initiative now serves over 30 restaurants and caterers across Annapolis, Baltimore, Washington, D.C. and the Eastern Shore. Read more or contact us today for information about joining the Alliance! |
| Out & About | | |
In 1987, NOAA joined the Oxford Lab as a partner with DNR to foster joint marine organism research and to further the lab's mission of combining science, response and management capabilities to secure the health of the Chesapeake Bay. The lab is also a key partner in the National Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding Network and, beginning this year, the staff will open the Oxford Environmental Science Training Center in partnership with the University of Maryland to train educators in cutting-edge ecological science.
The lab is located at 904 South Morris Street in Oxford, Maryland. They hold an annual open house during Oxford Day. |
| Did You Know? | | |
Up to how long can an oyster live out of the water (in cool temperatures)?
a. 2 hours b. 3 days c. 1 week d. 80 days
Answer from last issue's question: An oyster in the 1700s was considered large if it was 10 inches from hinge to bill. How many inches from hinge to bill would an oyster be today to be considered large? a. 3. This answer was taken from an educational tool about Oystering on the Chesapeake distributed by the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum. |
| Oyster Recipe |
This Oyster Salad Recipe is part of the classic American culinary arts. Dating back to nineteenth century America, this recipe incorporates old-fashioned ingredients, cooking techniques, and cooking utensils. Even the instructions and terminology are original, so you'll get a taste of classic culinary arts by just reading them. These free recipes and techniques were found at www.classic-culinary-arts.com and are yours to use and share as you'd like.
Oyster Salad
One pint of celery, one quart of oysters, one-third of a cupful of mayonnaise dressing, three tablespoonfuls of vinegar, one of oil, half a teaspoonful of salt, one-eighth of a teaspoonful of pepper, one table-spoonful of lemon juice.
Let the oysters come to a boil in their own liquor. Skim well and drain. Season them with the oil, salt, pepper, vinegar and lemon juice. When cold, put in the ice chest for at least two hours. Scrape and wash the whitest and tenderest part of the celery, and, with a sharp knife, cut in very thin slices.
Put in a bowl with a large lump of ice, and set in the ice chest until serving time. When ready to serve, drain the celery, and mix with the oysters and half of the dressing. Arrange in the dish, pour the remainder of the dressing over, and garnish with white celery leaves.
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| Support the Oyster Recovery Partnership |
Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP) is a 501(c)(3) based in Annapolis, MD whose mission is to restore the oyster, clean our Bay and preserve our future. ORP actively promotes, supports and restores oysters for ecologic and economic purposes. We engage in numerous Chesapeake Bay-related projects by conducting "in-the-water" and "on-the-land" recovery efforts, while conducting public outreach in our quest to protect our environment, our heritage, and our knowledge of the Chesapeake Bay, its marshes and rivers, and the life that it sustains.
A copy of our current financial statement is available upon request by contacting Oyster Recovery Partnership, Inc. at 1805A Virginia Avenue, Annapolis, MD 21401 or 410.990.4970. Documents and information submitted to the State of Maryland under the Maryland Charitable Solicitations Act are available from the Office of the Secretary of State for the cost of copying and postage.
Oyster Recovery Partnership, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization -- donations to which are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. |
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