Tuesday, July 27, 2010

MD Grows Oysters in the News

CES gets a little credit in the news! Find out more about the MD Grows Oysters Program, managed for the Chester River by Chesapeake Semester Program Manager Mike Hardesty '05.

Chestertown Spy: Local Oyster Stewardship

Friday, July 2, 2010

Maryland Grows Oysters Workshop - July 7

July 7, 2010

The Center for Environment & Society at Washington College will host a "Marylanders Grow Oysters" workshop on the lawn of the Custom House in Chestertown on Wednesday, July 7th, at 5:30 PM. Chris Judy, with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, will go over the basics on how to grow your own oysters on the Chester River.
Volunteers will learn how to maintain and monitor oyster cages as part of the State's restoration projects on local tributaries. With the right salinity levels, the cages provide an ideal habitat as small "spat on shell" grows to year-old oysters. At that point, hundreds of oysters from the cages will be introduced to existing oyster bars on the upper Chesapeake Bay.

If you do not have waterfront access from your own property, but still want to get your feet in the water, then come aboard as a volunteer monitor. Volunteers are needed to help with data collection on oyster growth and mortality at the College's test sites along the Chester River. Opportunities are also available through the College's Adopt-A-Spat program, where people can feel great about supporting oyster awareness and stewardship on the Chester without dealing with the barnacles, algae and flatworms.
The July workshop is free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required. To register or for more information, call 410/810-7488 or contact mhardesty2@washcoll.edu.

The Marylanders Grow Oysters program was established in 2008 by Governor O'Malley. The initiative is designed to foster stewardship of the Chesapeake Bay and create living oyster reef populations in sanctuaries. The Governor announced the Center's partnership status in June. In April, the Center received a Coastal America Partnership Award for its involvement with the Hail Cove restoration project at Eastern Neck Island. The College and the Friends of Eastern Neck were among the 17 partners who garnered this award.