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April 10, 2021

The Chestertown Spy

An Educational News Source for Chestertown Maryland

Ecosystem Eco Notes

May Public Programs from Pickering Creek Audubon Center

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WEBINAR: Kids Science Center: Seeds on the Grow!
May 7, 2021
1:00 – 2:00 pm
FREE
Plants are amazing but before the mightiest oak tree towers over the ground, it has to start as a seed! Join Pickering Creek educators as we talk all about super seeds and how they grow then conduct some fun at home seed experiments! Recommended for ages 4-8 but all ages are welcome! To register, visit https://pickering.audubon.org/programs/upcoming-online-events

WEBINAR: Love is in the Air: Native Plants for Pollinators
May 20, 2021
7:00 – 8:00 pm
FREE
Spring is a critical season for pollinators that are emerging to look for food and mates. It is typical to associate pollinators with meadows and flowers, but native trees fill a very important void in the early season of spring. We’ll talk about the importance of seasonality, the influence of climate change, and what native plants can support a wide variety of pollinators. To register, visit https://pickering.audubon.org/programs/upcoming-online-events

Stop Trash Pollution: Join Bay-Wide Cleanup Events in April

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Volunteers removed over 200 pounds of trash from the Miles River watershedduring Project Clean Stream in 2019.

Trash is everywhere throughout our watersheds—floating in ditches and streams, littering roadways, dirtying parks, and fluttering through farm fields. In April, ShoreRivers and volunteers will host community trash cleanups to help rid our towns, streets, and parks of litter before it reaches our waterways.These events are part of the annual Project Clean Stream, a Bay-wide cleanup organized by the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay. Thousands of people across the entire Chesapeake Bay watershed—six states and the District of Columbia—will work together to clean our shared water resource. This is a great way to get outside and make a tangible difference in for own rivers while being a part of the larger effort all across the Bay.

Join a Project Clean Stream cleanup near you:

  • Saturday, April 3 at 9:00am: Unionville Road on the Miles River
  • Saturday, April 10 at 8:30am: Fox Hole Landing on the Sassafras River
  • Saturday, April 10 at 9:30am: Turners Creekon the Sassafras River
  • Sunday, April 11 at 1:30pm: Wye Mills on the Wye River
  • Saturday, April 17 at 9:00am: Sassafras Natural Resource Management Area on the Sassafras River
  • Sunday, April 18 at 9:00am: Greensboro Community Park on the Choptank River
  • Sunday, April 18 at 1:00 pm: Chestertown rail trail on the Chester River
  • Saturday, April 24 at 9:00 am: Easton Point Marina on the Choptank River

If you are interested in volunteering to take part in any of these cleanups, please contact Laura Wood at lwood@shorerivers.org.Trash bags and gloves are provided; volunteers are encouraged to bring water, a mask, and wear appropriate attire. To plan your own Project Clean Stream event, visit www.allianceforthebay.org/project/project-clean-stream/

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

shorerivers.org

Spring Nature Play Trail Debuts at Pickering April 2

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Pickering Creek Audubon Center will debut its Spring Nature Play Trail on Friday April 2nd.  The trail begins near the Pickering Creek Welcome Center and loops through the nearby wetland boardwalk, woods, and pond loop.  The trail features fourteen stops that encourage kids and families to explore nature through short fun activities.  The trail is self-guided, and in both English and Spanish. At each stop, learn about nests by following interactive signs with prompts like, “Many eggs are brown, to help them camouflage with the ground so predators don’t eat them. Pick up three brown things before the next sign!” Each location asks kids and families to engage a different sense as they explore nature around them.

“The Spring Nature Play Trail is a great way for families to get outside during spring break and enjoy a pleasant walk at the Center as spring begins to unfold,” says trail designer Sammi Ocher. “Buds are getting ready to burst, birds are picking nest locations, early spring flowers are emerging, and frogs and toads are beginning to sing.”  The trail will be in place from Friday April 2nd through Sunday April 18th and coincides with area school’s spring break.  Keep an eye on the weather and remember boots as it has been a wet winter and puddles are one of spring’s promises.

After enjoying the Spring Nature Play Trail, further explorations lie beyond, with over four miles of trails and several beautiful vistas over Pickering Creek and the Center’s expansive wetlands, Pickering Creek has miles of trails for exploration and enjoyment.

Pickering Creek’s Trails are open daily from 7am to 7pm during this spring.  There is no admission fee.  Guests are asked to carry masks and wear them when passing each other on trails, restrooms facilities are limited at this time, so plan accordingly.  For all our guidelines please check:

https://pickering.audubon.org/visit/planning-visit

Weidensaul Speaks About New Bird Book

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Scott Weidensaul. Photo Credit: Chris DeSorbo

On April 1st at 7:00PM via zoom webinar Pickering Creek presents A World on the Wing: A Talk with Author Scott Weidensaul.  A World on the Wing, the newest book from acclaimed nature writer Scott Weidensaul, is at once a celebration of global bird migration, an exploration of our rapidly evolving understanding of the science that underpins it, and a cautionary tale of the challenges humans have placed in the way of migrating birds. It conveys both the wonder of bird migration and its global sweep, from the mudflats of the Yellow Sea in China to the wilderness of central Alaska, the remote mountains of northeastern India to the dusty hills of southern Cyprus. A World on the Wing is also the story of Weidensaul’s own journey over the past two decades from a deeply interested amateur to someone immersed in migration research, using cutting-edge technology to answer questions that have fascinated him all his life–and, with fellow scientists, researchers, and bird lovers, trying to preserve global migratory patterns in the face of climate change and other looming challenges.

Ornithologist and author Scott Weidensaul celebrates the natural world—particularly birds and bird migration—in his research, his writing and his public speaking. Scott’s writing career began in 1978 with a weekly natural history column in the local newspaper, the Pottsville Republican in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania, where he grew up. The column soon led a fulltime reporting job, which he held until 1988, when he left to become a freelance writer specializing in nature and wildlife. (He continued to write about nature for newspapers, however, including long-running columns for the Philadelphia Inquirer and Harrisburg Patriot-News.)

Weidensaul has written more than 30 books, including his widely acclaimed Living on the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds (North Point 1999), which was a finalist for the 2000 Pulitzer Prize. His newest book, A World on the Wing: The Global Odyssey of Migratory Birds (W.W. Norton) will be published in March 2021. Weidensaul’s writing has appeared in dozens of publications, including Audubon, Living Bird, Bird Watcher’s Digest and National Wildlife, among many others. He lectures widely on conservation and nature, and directs ornithological programs for National Audubon’s famed Hog Island Center on the coast of Maine.

In addition to writing about wildlife, Weidensaul is an active field researcher whose work focuses on bird migration. He is a co-director of Project Owlnet, a collaborative effort among nearly 125 banding and research stations across North America studying owl migration, and for more than 20 years he has directed a major effort to study the movements of northern saw-whet owls, one of the smallest and least-understood raptors in North America.

Weidensaul co-founded Project SNOWstorm, which uses cutting-edge tracking technology to study snowy owls, and is a founder of the Critical Connections project, which is tracking the migration of birds that breed on National Park lands in Alaska. He is also part of a continental effort to understand the rapid evolution, by several species of western hummingbirds, of a new migratory route and wintering range in the East.

To register:

https://pickering.audubon.org/programs/upcoming-online-events

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge to Hold Virtual Eagle Festival

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Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) is hosting a Virtual Eagle Festival March 12–14, 2021. With the pandemic and continuing need for social distancing, this year’s activities will be conducted online, with programs taking place on Facebook (@BlackwaterNWR) and Zoom, while encouraging visitors to enjoy the refuge on their own. In addition, the Wildlife Drive will be free-of-charge on March 13 and 14 for those who wish to visit the refuge to see eagles and other wildlife.

The Eagle Festival will kick off on Facebook on March 12 at 12:00 p.m. with a welcome by refuge staff and a roundup of the best hotspots to see eagles at the refuge. This will be followed at 1:00 p.m. with a brief introduction to eagle identification.

On Saturday, March 13 at 10:00 a.m., join Mike Callahan of Nanjemoy Creek Environmental Education Center as he presents his program, “The Bald Eagle, Icon of Blackwater NWR and our National Symbol” with a live bald eagle.  At 2:00 p.m., Tuckahoe State Park staff will give us a behind-the-scenes look at the Scales and Tales Aviary while answering commonly asked questions about eagles.  Tune in for appearances by several live birds of prey!

On Saturday, March 13 at 11:30 a.m., join refuge staff for story and craft time as we watch together the picture book Owl Babies, and then make our very own ‘owl baby’ with a few basic supplies.  A limited number of kits with all the necessary supplies will be available to pick up in advance. Registration is required for this Zoom program. Email michele_whitbeck@fws.gov with “Owl Babies” in the subject line, and the names and number of children participating. Deadline to register for this program is March 12.

On Sunday, March 14 at 10:00 a.m., Mike Callahan returns to Facebook with live birds of prey for a program titled “Raptors Rule,” highlighting some of our native raptors of Maryland.  At 1:00 p.m., gather the kids for a puppet show and learn all about the adventures of a young Canada goose as he explores the refuge’s habitats and discovers the animals that call Blackwater NWR home.  At 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, check out the bald eagle highlight reel from the Friends of Blackwater, where they’ve captured some of the best videos from the four wildlife cameras on the refuge!

Tired of looking at your screen?  Grab the family and head out to the refuge for a StoryWalk® where the kids can read the picture book Over in the Forest:  Come and Take a Peek.  Pages from the book will be installed along the Woods Trail beginning March 12 through the end of the month.

All online events will be monitored by refuge staff, who will be standing by to answer your questions during the programs. For more information and a schedule of programs, visit www.fws.gov/refuge/Blackwater. If you have any questions, please email us at fw5rw_BWNWR@fws.gov.

The Blackwater NWR Visitor Center remains closed for the month of March. Brochures, maps, and an introductory video are available at a self-service station in the breezeway of the Visitor Center from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Friday through Monday. For visitors with questions, or inquiries regarding purchasing a federal pass, “Text a Ranger” at 443-205-5290 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Friday through Monday.  The Wildlife Drive and refuge trails remain open daily from sunrise to sunset.

To protect the health of those who live, work, and visit U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service public lands and facilities, face masks are required.  They are also required outdoors when physical distancing is not possible, like on narrow or busy trails, boardwalks, and observation decks.

Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, protects over 32,000 acres of rich tidal marsh, mixed hardwood and pine forest, managed freshwater wetlands and cropland for a diversity of wildlife.  To learn more, visit our website at www.fws.gov/refuge/blackwater or @BlackwaterNWR.

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov. 

Tallamy Featured in Pickering’s Spring Speaker Series

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Pickering Creek’s great line up of engaging online programs continues as we all get ready and dream of spring gardens and migrating waterbirds, raptors and songbirds. A full list of Pickering’s great virtual programming is available at its website pickering.audubon.org.  These two are of particular interest.

On March 15 at 7:00 PM via zoom webinar Pickering presents Nature’s Best Hope with Entomologist Doug Tallamy. Recent headlines about global insect declines and three billion fewer birds in North America are a bleak reality check about how ineffective our current landscape designs have been at sustaining the plants and animals that sustain us.  Such losses are not an option if we wish to continue our current standard of living on Planet Earth. The good news is that none of this is inevitable. Tallamy will discuss simple steps that each of us can- and must- take to reverse declining biodiversity and will explain why we, ourselves, are nature’s best hope.   “Doug is an amazingly engaging speaker,” says Pickering Director Mark Scallion, “his presentations really bring home the importance of changing our views of landscaping. You will be dazzled by the plethora of amazing images in his visually stunning presentation.”

Doug Tallamy is a professor in the Department of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware, where he has authored 104 research publications and has taught insect related courses for 40 years. Chief among his research goals is to better understand the many ways insects interact with plants and how such interactions determine the diversity of animal communities. His book Bringing Nature Home: How Native Plants Sustain Wildlife in Our Gardens was published by Timber Press in 2007 and was awarded the 2008 Silver Medal by the Garden Writers’ Association. The Living Landscape, co-authored with Rick Darke, was published in 2014. Doug’s new book ‘Nature’s Best Hope’ released by Timber Press in February 2020, is a New York Times Best Seller.

Sign up at https://pickering.audubon.org/programs/upcoming-online-events

ShoreRivers Announces Partnerships for Urban Stormwater Retrofits

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Retrofitting a stormwater outlet box

ShoreRivers has received grants to work with two regional organizations to better manage and treat stormwater runoff from urban parking lots. Urban stormwater runoff is one of the most damaging threats to urban waterways because it contains nutrients and other harmful pollutants, and can contribute to localized flooding.

In Dorchester County, the existing parking lot at the American Legion Post 91 in Cambridge will be upgraded with vegetated bioswales and native trees to manage and treat stormwater runoff, and native grass plantings along the shoreline to stabilize the eroding bank. Post Historian Richard F. Colburn writes, “Five years ago we had a fire at the American Legion Post 91 that closed our post and necessitated an overwhelming amount of repairs and restoration, including to the riverside parking. Fortunately, with the help of ShoreRivers, services from Rauch Engineering, and grants from Chesapeake Bay Trust and a Maryland State Bond Initiative, the community came together on the final leg of the project. We are now able to retrofit our waterfront parking lot in a way that protects and enhances the water quality of the precious Choptank River.”

This project meets many of the action items in the Cambridge Clean Waters Advisory Committee’s report “Moving Toward Clean Waters: A 10-Year Plan.” The parking lot will be resurfaced in part with porous asphalt and sloped toward a bioswale to redirect stormwater runoff. The bioswale will be constructed along the edge of the parking lot with a channel of native plants to help increase biodiversity and wildlife in that area. The bioswale will slow and absorb the stormwater runoff and the vegetation will help filter the water before it drains into the Choptank. Native grasses planted between the parking lot and the water’s edge will stabilize the bank.

Filling basin with bioretention media

Similarly, in Kent County, a collaborative project between ShoreRivers, Washington College, and the Town of Chestertown proposes to retrofit a stormwater detention pond and associated drainage on the northern edge of the college’s campus. This project is part of a comprehensive stormwater management plan that ShoreRivers is preparing for the historic waterfront town. Both the stormwater management plan and the Washington College retrofit designs were funded by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, with a match from a private donor to complete engineered designs for the campus retrofits.

ShoreRivers recently installed several of these retrofits as mini bioretention basins in the college’s North Commons parking lot, with funds from Chesapeake Bay Trust’s Green Streets, Green Towns, Green Jobs grant program. These mini practices were designed to capture and hold water so biological activity can remove nutrients as well as pollutants coming from asphalt and vehicles before draining into the stormwater pond that eventually discharges to Radcliffe Creek, a tributary of the impaired Middle Chester River. Implementation funding proposals are in progress for the remaining practices, which are the first of a number of improvements the college hopes to make on its campus that will have water quality and habitat benefits and serve as demonstration projects to the large audience the college serves.

The Cambridge and Chestertown projects are examples of using the “Dig Once” concept to leverage private investments to increase water quality protections. American Legion Post 91 and Washington College each invested in the gray infrastructure components of the upgrades—resurfacing and curb placement—providing the required matching funds for the green infrastructure components paid for by grants from Chesapeake Bay Trust.

By installing the projects’ green components at the same time as the gray infrastructure elements, upgrades cost less than if the parking lots were later retrofitted with green infrastructure. According to Chester Riverkeeper Annie Richards, “Leveraging private investments to help tackle urban runoff is a strategy that will likely become more powerful as we get closer to the 2025 deadline for the Chesapeake Bay Cleanup.”

ShoreRivers protects and restores Eastern Shore waterways through science-based advocacy, restoration, and education.

Enviro Congressional Scorecard: Good Grades for Dems, a Zero for Rep. Harris

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The League of Conservation Voters released its annual congressional scorecard Thursday, and the Maryland delegation lined up about as expected:

Six House Democrats — Reps. Steny H. Hoyer, Kweisi Mfume, Jamie B. Raskin, C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, John P. Sarbanes and David J. Trone — received perfect 100% scores. Rep. Anthony G. Brown (D) got 95% on the scorecard, and the state’s two senators, Benjamin L. Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, both Democrats, scored 92% grades.

Rep. Andy Harris

The lone Republican in Maryland’s congressional delegation, Rep. Andrew P. Harris, got a zero.

Harris’ lifetime score from LCV is 3%, while the Democrats’ range from 82% (Hoyer) to 99% (Raskin).

“President Biden has wasted no time putting climate at the top of his agenda to protect our future,” Maryland LCV’s executive director, Kim Coble, said in a statement. “Thankfully we have representatives who have stood up for Maryland’s values and put our future first. But Representative Andy Harris continues to side with corporate polluters over Maryland’s health and environment.”

According to LCV, the scores were tabulated using 21 House votes that advanced pro-environmental and pro-democracy bills, provisions, and government funding. In the Senate, for the fourth year in a row, the majority of the 13 scored votes were based on nominations both to the federal bench and the Trump administration.

The scorecard also includes votes on removing public monuments to racism and policing and criminal justice reform. LCV leaders say racism and environmental justice issues are increasingly intertwined.

Nationally, the U.S. Senate, which was under Republican control in 2020, had a 46% score from LCV. The House, which was in Democratic hands, scored 59% collectively.

“In an incredibly difficult and unprecedented year and with the most anti-environmental president ever, pro-environment members of the 116th Congress paved the way for transformational action on climate and environmental justice,” said LCV Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld.

By Josh Kurtz

Environmental Concern Joins Global Wetlands Celebration

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The professionals at Environmental Concern work every day to advance wetland restoration and education in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. One of the many ways they do this is by raising awareness of the importance of wetlands for water quality and natural habitat within the watershed community.

On February 2nd, Environmental Concern (EC) joined more than two thousand Wetlands of International Importance in 171 countries as well as National Parks, National Wildlife Refuges, Wetland Centers and environmental facilities across the US to celebrate World Wetlands Day.

World Wetlands Day commemorates the signing of the Convention on Wetlands on February 2, 1971, in Ramsar, Iran. The Convention on Wetlands is a global treaty supporting the conservation and wise use of wetlands, and the designation of ‘Wetlands of International Importance’ (“Ramsar Sites”). The Sites are recognized for rare and unique habitat, wildlife, and biological diversity. The United States has designated forty-one Ramsar Sites since 1986, covering more than five million acres of wetland habitat.

Photo: Front row – Chris Blizzard, Connor Burton, Chris Oakes, Marcia Pradines (refuge manager), Ashley Roe, Suzanne Pittenger-Slear (EC president); Back row – Lyndsey Pollock, John Sandkuhler, Sam Eisenhower, Joe Miller, Nick Sparacino, Anne Sindermann, Josie Aikey and Gene Slear.

The World Wetland Theme this year is Inseparable: Wetlands, Water and Life, which shines a spotlight on wetlands as a source of freshwater and encourages actions to restore wetlands.

“We are fortunate to have a Ramsar site here on Maryland’s eastern shore,” said EC president Suzanne Pittenger-Slear. The Chesapeake Bay Estuarine Complex, which includes Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, was designated as a ‘Wetland of International Importance’ in 1986. The refuge consists of more than 30,000 acres of tidal marsh, loblolly pine forests, and freshwater wetlands, and serves as an essential stopover for migrating and wintering waterfowl. The Wildlife Drive, which includes access to four trails, is open daily from sunrise to sunset. “The winter season offers amazing views of the vast wetland ecosystems and natural habitats,” said Pittenger-Slear. Learn about the importance of wetlands by planning a family outing to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge this month (check website for hours of operation). World Wetlands Day events continue through the month of February. The US activities are posted here:https://www.worldwetlandsday.org/events.

Each year, Pittenger-Slearcoordinates an annual trip to Blackwater NWRon World Wetlands Day with Refuge Manager, Marcia Pradines. This year, Pradines greeted 15 members of EC’s staff in front of the refuge Visitor’s Center before they started their journey on the four-mile Wildlife Drive. Pradines reported that just after sunrise, the refuge staff counted over twelve thousand snow geese (Chen caerulescens), three white pelicans (Pelecanuserythrorhynchos), and two hundred tundra swans (Cygnus columbiannus). Watching the white pelicans resting along the shoreline on the Blackwater River was an amazing sight. The group also observed two adult eagles in a nest in a loblolly pine tree (Pinustaeda) near the Wildlife Drive. “We were all so excited to see the majestic eagles in their natural habitat,” said Pittenger-Slear. The refuge is the center of the largest density of breeding bald eagles on the east coast, north of Florida.

The trip offered EC staff the opportunity to see firsthand the impact of their work for wetlands. Whether working in the nursery growing thousands of native plants, getting wet and muddy restoring living shorelines, or organizing events to educate the community –they all left the refuge with a heightened awareness of the significance of their work and the understanding that their work serves a broader purpose that goes far beyond the borders of EC’s campus.

For more information about World Wetlands Day, visit: www.worldwetlandsday.org. Free posters and activities are available to download from the site.

Environmental Concern is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation established in 1972 to promote public understanding and stewardship of wetlands with the goal of improving water quality and enhancing nature’s habitat. For the last 49 years, Environmental Concern has been working to restore the Bay…one wetland at a time.

CBF Adds 14 Million Oysters to Chesapeake Bay in Maryland in 2020

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CBF Oyster planting vessel Patricia Campbell on its way to seed oysters in the Tred Avon River.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) continued its long-term push to restore oyster reefs in the Chesapeake Bay by adding more than 14 million oysters in Maryland waters during 2020’s pandemic-affected season.

More than 10 million of the oysters were added to the Tred Avon River on the Eastern Shore, where CBF is working under a grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to restore oyster reefs at the tributary scale along with other state and federal partners. This effort contributes to the Chesapeake Bay Agreement goal of restoring oyster reefs in 10 tributaries by 2025.

Despite the pandemic limiting CBF staff’s ability to connect with volunteers, CBF’s cadre of oyster gardeners contributed 500,000 adult oysters to the 2020 tally. These oysters were added to Maryland’s portion of the Bay from as far south as the Virginia border to the Baltimore area in the north. The work helps engage citizens with limited access to the Bay and exposes them to this iconic reef-building species they may only be familiar with from eating.

Volunteers also helped CBF collect more than 1,200 bushels of oyster shells, which will be recycled, re-set with oyster larvae and put back into the Bay to grow. In the Bay, oysters naturally produce larvae that attaches to existing oyster shells and grows into larger oysters, which helps build reefs.

CBF Oyster Restoration Manager Karl Willey in front of oysters that were later added to the Tred Avon River – Summer 2020

The oyster restoration figures were down from CBF’s annual average of adding about 25 million oysters to the Bay. This was mostly due to limitations on restoration activities to ensure safety during the pandemic. CBF limited the number of staff working closely on boats as well as how many volunteers could gather for oyster gardening events.

“As soon as we became aware of the pandemic in early March of last year, we took immediate action to change our oyster restoration operations to ensure the safety of staff and volunteers,” said Doug Myers, CBF’s Senior Maryland Scientist. “What we didn’t do is halt the program. Instead, we worked within safety guidelines and continued planting millions of water-filtering oysters in the Bay. We’re so thankful to our dozens of volunteers who were able to assist our efforts during these trying times by helping to pick up and clean recycled shells.”

Chesapeake Oyster Alliance and Large-Scale Restoration Efforts 

CBF’s effort coincided with work by other groups that are also adding more oysters to the Bay. The Chesapeake Oyster Alliance, a coalition of oyster-related businesses, academic institutions and environmental organizations, has now added more than 2 billion oysters to the Bay as it continues its march toward its goal to add 10 billion oysters to the Bay by 2025.

CBF Oyster Restoration Specialist Patrick Beall stands next to one of four trucks used to transport oysters raised by volunteers for planting in Herring Bay in fall 2020. Credit – AJ Metcalf

In 2020, the Alliance and CBF joined forces to help oyster aquaculture operators sell farm-raised oysters directly to consumers. Oyster aquaculture businesses were hit particularly hard by reduced restaurant demand for oysters during the pandemic.

“We were able to help four oyster farmers sell more than 18,000 oysters during oyster pop-up sales hosted throughout Maryland during the summer and fall,” said Tanner Council, Chesapeake Oyster Alliance Manager. “Oyster farming has been one of the great seafood economic success stories during the past decade, with the industry growing by about 24 percent per year in Maryland from 2012 to 2018. We wanted to help any way we could to ensure businesses survive the reduced demand for oysters caused by restaurant closures during the pandemic.”

This past year, CBF also celebrated the completion of oyster restoration work in the Little Choptank River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, where 358 acres of Bay bottom have now been seeded with 2 billion spat-on-shell oysters. CBF added about 66 million oysters to the Little Choptank during the restoration work, which began in 2015.

The large-scale restoration work is targeted to meet the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement’s goal of restoring oyster populations in at least 10 Bay tributaries by 2025. So far, those efforts have been completed in Maryland’s Harris Creek and Virginia’s Lafayette River and the Eastern Branch of the Elizabeth River, as well as the Little Choptank.

Oyster Innovation 

CBF has been innovating to respond to oysters’ ongoing challenges. In 2020, staff continued monitoring a 700-foot oyster reef ball living shoreline installed in the South River in 2019 in partnership with the Arundel Rivers Federation. The concrete reef balls placed near an eroding shoreline were seeded with spat, or juvenile oysters. Some of those oysters have since grown much larger. CBF is reviewing the project to see if reef balls seeded with oysters could be used in living shorelines elsewhere along the Bay to provide habitat, filter water, and reduce shoreline erosion.  By growing vertically, this nearshore reef could continue to provide shore protection better than bulkheads and other shoreline armoring because the growth can keep pace with sea level rise.

CBF has also been working with engineering firm Northrop Grumman to develop ways to more easily monitor oyster reefs below the often murky water of the Bay. In 2021, CBF and Northrop Grumman plan to deploy new SONAR and acoustic listening devices to help better understand how oysters are faring in the Bay and identify new target reefs for restoration.

Oysters are a keystone species in the Chesapeake Bay. An adult oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day, their reefs provide habitat for fish, crabs, and other marine life, and oysters are an important part of the region’s seafood economy. For these reasons, CBF has prioritized the protection and restoration of the Bay’s oyster reefs.

More information about CBF’s oyster-related work can be found in the 2020 Maryland Oyster Annual Report.