Giving Back To The Bay-Oceanaire Seafood Room

Giving Back To The Bay-Oceanaire Seafood Room Baltimore-I am trying to get involved with “giving back” to the community and to the Chesapeake Bay. One new way I have found to do this is partnering with an Oyster Recovery Program. Here at The Oceanaire, I am saving all of my oyster shells and weekly, a representative from the oyster recovery is coming to pick them up. This sounds like a very simple task, however all of the work that goes into it after they pick them up is amazing. Right now in the Chesapeake, the oyster levels are at an all time low which is about 1% of where they should be. Once the oyster shells are picked up from the restaurant, they are washed and tumbled to remove anything that should not be on there. After being cleaned, baby oysters or spat, are placed onto each oyster shell and then placed back into the bay to allow the oyster to grow. It takes about 3-5 years to achieve a harvestable oyster, but we have to start somewhere. Here are some Oyster Facts from the oyster recovery program website http://oysterrecovery.org 1. Over 100 years ago , over 10 million bushels of oysters were harvested annually from the Chesapeake Bay! 2. Today, disease, habitat loss from sediment and historical overfishing have reduced the population to 1% of its historical peak. 3. Oysters are critical to the Bay’s long term recovery. Oysters used to filter the Bay in days, now it takes YEARS! 4. A healthy Oyster reef also provides habitat for other creatures which attract striped bass, perch and blue crabs. 5. The Oyster recovery partnership and its partners are working diligently to restore the Bay’s oyster reef. 6. Annually, hundreds of acres of oysters reefs are being revitilized with hundreds of millions of baby oysters. In the photos above, The oyster Recovery partnership picked up 16, 5 gallon buckets on Monday February 1, 2010….What will you do to give back to the bay???   To follow my blog go to http://oceanaireben.wordpress.com