Annapolis, MD - The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP), will launch the start of the 2nd Annual From the Bay, For the Bay Dine Out, a grassroots movement where restaurants from the region are joining together to celebrate locally-caught Chesapeake Bay seafood while supporting oyster restoration in the Bay, with the Mermaid's Kiss Oyster Fest and It's My BayStewardship Awards Presentation, on October 3 inside the National Aquarium in Baltimore, MD.
The Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP), University of Maryland's Horn Point Lab Hatchery (UMD HPL) and the coalition of oyster restoration partners including DNR, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE), will reveal 2012 oyster restoration results, including a record-breaking number of oyster spat produced and planted by the Horn Point Lab Oyster Hatchery and ORP team, as well as final oyster shell recycling collection numbers from ORP's regional Shell Recycling Alliance.
Restoration partner leadership will be available Wednesday, October 3rd, 2012 from 5:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. EST for a brief press conference held in the Knott Harbor View Room inside Baltimore's National Aquarium to reveal participating restaurants of the "From the Bay, For the Bay" campaign, 2012 oyster restoration results,Shell Recycling Alliance results, new Alliance members and future campaign goals. Maryland State officials will also be on hand to discuss the broader restoration impact for our bay.
WHO:
Senator Cardin
Joe Gill, DNR Deputy Secretary
Frank Dawson, DNR Assistant Secretary
Dr. Mike Roman, UMCES, Director, Horn Point Laboratory
Dr. Mutt Meritt, UMCES, Horn Point Hatchery Manager
Claire O'Neill, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District
Bob Driscoll, ORP Board Chairman
Stephan Abel, ORP Executive Director
WHAT: Launching 2nd Annual "From the Bay, For the Bay" Regional Sustainability Campaign
Revealing Oyster Restoration Results from 2012 Season
*Refreshments Provided to Media; Please RSVP
WHEN: Wednesday, October 3, 2012
5:30 p.m. - 6:00 p.m.
WHERE: Baltimore's National Aquarium, 501 E Pratt Street, Baltimore, MD, 21202
(410) 576-3800
CONTACT: Heather Epkins at (443) 871-7131or hepkins@oysterrecovery.org RSVP, Mermaids Kiss Oyster Fest
Karis King, DNR at (410) 260-8001 or kking@dnr.state.md.us, Inquiries From the Bay, For the Bay
BACKGROUND: From the Bay, For the Bay Dine Out is a week-long celebration of MD seafood. Participating restaurants from Philadelphia to Northern Virginia will be featuring fresh, locally caught Maryland Seafood for their guests ─ an excellent way to support local watermen, while enjoying the best seafood our region has to offer. Each of the participating restaurants is donating $1.00 for every Maryland seafood dinner that is sold during this week to the Oyster Recovery Partnership in Annapolis, MD (http://oysterrecoverypartnership.squarespace.com/), a non-profit organization that works to replenish the population of our native and treasured Chesapeake Bay oyster.
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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.Nearly 20 years ago, the Oyster Recovery Partnership was commissioned as a cooperative coalition of multiple partners that contribute toward a large-scale restoration program that plants disease-free oysters back into the Chesapeake Bay. As a result of this successful Partnership, nearly 4 billion oysters have been planted on 1,500 acres of oyster reefs and nearly 30,000 bushels of shell have been recycled to provide homes for new oysters. Now Maryland's leading nonprofit restoring oysters in the Chesapeake Bay, the Oyster Recovery Partnership operates the Shell Recycling Alliance, supports the State's Marylanders Grow Oysters program and provides aquaculture and fishery support services.
For more information visit www.oysterrecovery.org.
