| Restoring Our Oyster. Cleaning Our Bay. Preserving Our Future. |
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Baysox Support Bay Oysters -- Buy Your Tickets Today! |
Here's your chance to  support our oyster and the Bowie Baysox all in the same night! Buy tickets to the June 3 Baysox game and a percentage of the ticket sales goes to the Oyster Recovery Partnership to help restore our Eastern oyster. Go to the Bowie Baysox Tickets page on TicketReturn.com. Enter the code OYSTER (it must be typed in all CAPS) and it will take you to the ORP's game date of June 3. Click on Special Offer Only to advance to the ticket purchasing page. When you make your purchase, a percentage of the sale will be donated to the ORP. Tickets must be purchased online by 3 pm on June 3 to participate in this special offer. |
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Combined Federal Campaign | |
ORP is an approved charitable organization designated within several Combined Federal Campaigns. To designate your gift to the ORP, use code 91587.
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| ORP Outreach | |
Kent Island Days
Stevensville, MD
9 am - 5 pm
May 26, 2011
MD Legislature Sportsmen's Foundation
Westin Hotel
Annapolis, MD
June 1-3, 2011
Bay Days at Kennard Elementary School
June 2, 2011
RotoRact Young Professionals, AMM
Annapolis, MD
June 3, 2011
Bowie Baysox vs. New Britain Rock Cats
Buy Tickets today and support the Oyster Recovery Partnership
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Oysters and Pearls - Intercontinental Harbor Court Baltimore |
| Meet Our Board Members |
Ed Rich
Senior Consulting Engineer, Northrop Grumman Corporation
Ed is a Senior Consulting Engineer for Northrop Grumman in Maryland. After military service as an artillery officer, he started with Northrop Grumman (Westinghouse) as a summer intern in 1965, beginning full time in 1966. Known as the "Father" of several defense systems still employed today, Ed holds dozens of patents and technical publications. He was the 2004 honoree for Northrop Grumman's Lifetime Achievement for Excellence award.
As a Judge in the Baltimore Science Fair for more than 15 years, he has encouraged the talented youth of our area to pursue science as a career. When Ed first joined the Oyster Recovery Partnership Board of Directors, he represented the Windjammers, original founders of Chesapeake Appreciation that has become Oyster Recovery Partnership. Over the years, Ed has played an active role in supporting youth outreach events to teach children about the role that oysters play in restoring our Bay.
He makes his home in the Annapolis area with his wife and daughter, and is an active member of the sailing community.
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First oyster planting of the 2011 season in Harris Creek, Talbot County on May 9. |
Another oyster planting season has begun! Every year, tens of thousands of bushels of oyster shells are transported to the UMCES Horn Point Laboratory in Cambridge by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources. Shells are aged for one to two years and then they are thoroughly washed to remove any dirt and organic matter before they are loaded into setting tanks where the disease-free oyster larvae have attached themselves to the clean shell. The spat on shell are then transported by the ORP Field Crew onboard the Robert Lee planting vessel for planting on pre-selected and prepared oyster bars around the Bay.
View an ORP planting video on YouTube.
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Seed boat Captain Woods collects and transports thousands of bushels of previously planted oyster shell from Crab Alley Bay in Eastern Bay for replanting in the Choptank River with the hopes of getting a natural spat set. |
We couldn't plant without oyster shells. So a hearty "thanks" to the nearly 70 SRA member restaurants, caterers and wholesalers who are participating in ORP's Shell Recycling Alliance. Since the SRA's inception last year, we've reclaimed over 2 million oyster shells! This increase in shell recycling is encouraging for future planting efforts.
Recycled shell is a limited resource and a critical element in the State's oyster restoration efforts. Your participation is making a difference!
As always, thank you for your support and we look forward to seeing you on the Bay.
-- Stephan Abel, Executive Director, ORP
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 | | ORP Executive Director Stephan Abel educates Chesapeake region chefs about the importance of locally-sourced seafood. |
In early May, the Oyster Recovery Partnership and the Department of Natural Resources took ten of the region's chefs out on the Chesapeake to get a seafood education first hand from the watermen.
The chefs were shown how oysters are harvested by Captain Ben Parks, while Stephan Abel explained the importance of these bivalves to the Bay's health. They were introduced to "Jimmy Potting" for peelers, harvesting hard crabs, pound nets, as well as hook and line striped bass fishing. All of the chefs walked away with more Bay seafood knowledge and an important appreciation of the hard working watermen and the seafood they harvest. |
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Q. Does the Eastern Oyster make pearls?
A: Crassostrea virginica, or Eastern oysters, are considered "edible" oysters. While it is possible for edible oysters to produce pearls, cultured pearls are from a different genus of bivalve, called Pinctada. Termed as "pearl oysters", members of the Pinctada genus are actually saltwater clams. Pearls are formed within the shell of the mollusk as a defense mechanism against some form of irritant, such as a parasite. The mollusk forms the pearl sac around the irritant to seal it off from the rest of its body.
--Steven Allen, MSc, Sr. Manager, Aquatic Restoration Program, ORP |
Partner Profile
ORP and the University of Maryland's Center for Environmental Science (UMCES) have a common goal of restoring healthy oyster populations to the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. The UMCES Horn Point Laboratory's oyster culture facility, or hatchery, produces a variety of oyster spat for use in research, restoration and educational projects. Over the past decade, the production facility has produced billions of native oyster spat for ORP to plant into the Chesapeake Bay.
 | | Oyster setting tanks at UMCES Horn Point Laboratory. |
Horn Point Laboratory's interdisciplinary approach to environmental research draws upon the expertise of scientists seeking
to expand understanding of the biology, chemistry, physics and ecology of organisms and ecosystems. With ongoing
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| | New oyster setting facility at UMCES Horn Point Laboratory. |
research programs spanning from the estuarine waters of the Chesapeake Bay to the open waters of the world's oceans, HPL is a national leader in applying environmental research and discovery to solve society's most pressing environmental problems.
The recent completion of their new state-of-the-art oyster setting facility will enable Horn Point Lab to be capable of annually producing up to two billion spat on shell for use in the oyster restoration program. The long-term goal of this program is to eventually return to a stable, self-sustaining oyster population in Maryland that helps create a healthy Chesapeake Bay and once again supports the vibrant fishery with which so many Marylanders identify. |
Out & About
On April 30, 2011, over 900 runners ran the Nature Conservancy Earth Day 5k to show their support of oyster restoration in the Chesapeake Bay. The $25,000 raised at the event will help build an oyster sanctuary in the Chesapeake Bay.
If you missed the race, you can still help:
· Volunteer
· Donate
· Friend us on Facebook |
How long does it take for a recycled oyster shell to become suitably aged and ready to be used as a new home for another oyster?
a. 8 days b. 1 month c. 9 months d. 1-2 years
Read the next issue of The Bay Restorer to learn the answer! Answer from last issue's question: During January and February 2011, ORP's Shell Recycling Alliance collected enough shells to plant 2,100,000 new oysters! |
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About the Oyster Recovery Partnership | |
Restoring Our Oyster. Cleaning Our Bay. Preserving Our Future.This is the mission of the Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP) -- a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Annapolis, MD. ORP actively promotes, supports and restores oysters for ecologic and economic purposes. We engage in numerous Chesapeake Bay-related projects by conducting science-based "in-the-water" and "on-the-land" recovery efforts, while conducting public outreach and education 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 the Oyster Recovery Partnership, Inc. at 1805A Virginia Street, 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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