Chesapeake Bay News

MASN, the television home of the Baltimore Orioles and Washington Nationals, has announced a partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to launch a public service campaign to “Go to Bat for the Bay.”  The network will launch a series of television and online ads to increase awareness about the Chesapeake Bay and to encourage responsible use of nature’s resources.

The network will deploy its most valuable resources — an All-Star talent team as well as Nationals and Orioles players and coaches — to promote the year-long campaign on MASN.  Adam Dunn, Jeremy Guthrie and Adam Jones, Nationals manager Jim Riggleman, and MASN broadcaster Johnny Holliday have already recorded PSA’s, and other Nationals, Orioles and MASN personalities will join them in the months ahead.

The network’s television footprint closely mirrors the vast Chesapeake Bay watershed, the 64,000 square miles and 150 rivers and streams that drain into the Chesapeake.  This synergy enables the Chesapeake Bay Foundation to reach a target audience – the 17 million citizens who live within the watershed – who can make a difference in the long-term health of the Bay.

Viewers will be educated about the watershed and encouraged to take small but meaningful steps to “Go to Bat for the Bay.”  These steps can be as simple as buying locally-grown foods, reducing the use of lawn fertilizers and chemicals, planting trees and conserving water.  MASN is contributing a significant amount of on-air and online inventory to promote the campaign, to raise awareness of the fragile environmental treasure, and to encourage positive action.

In one of the PSAs, Nationals manager Jim Riggleman explains that the Chesapeake Bay has lost half of its forested shoreline, more than half its wetlands and 90 percent of its underwater grasses.  Riggleman urges viewers to Go to Bat for the Bay and to join the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

In another spot, Orioles pitcher Jeremy Guthrie describes the blue crabs, oysters, clams and rockfish that make up the 500 million pounds of seafood harvested from the Bay annually.  Guthrie reminds viewers that a cleaner Bay means better seafood and more jobs for those who bring the Bay’s bounty to our tables.

source: CBF

On May 27, 2010, Chesapeake Bay Foundation President Will Baker issued the following statement regarding President Barack Obama’s announcement that the federal government is cancelling sales of leases to drill for oil and natural gas off the Virginia coast.

“We applaud President Obama’s decision to cancel sales of oil and gas leasing off Virginia’s coast and thereby avoid a potentially catastrophic threat to the Chesapeake Bay.

“The events in the Gulf clearly demonstrate the risks of offshore drilling. Safeguards are never foolproof. And their effectiveness can be further mitigated by human error. The consequence of accidents can be devastating to the environment, the economy, and the people of waterfront communities.

“The risks posed by offshore drilling to the Chesapeake Bay outweigh any potential benefits. Moreover, clean, safe alternatives such as wind and solar power as well as energy conservation readily exist that will provide the energy and jobs needed without threatening our communities, our economy, the military, and the Bay. I hope the federal government and the Bay states will take this opportunity to aggressively pursue a more sustainable energy future, beginning today.”

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC) announced support for Maryland’s new oyster restoration plan, calling it a strong first step towards significantly increasing oyster numbers in the Chesapeake Bay.

The plan proposes a new approach for managing this critical resource for all of its different values. The plan would create big oyster reefs in certain areas of the Bay that can not be harvested (sanctuary reefs), increase job opportunities in oyster farming in separate areas, and retain some reefs for watermen to harvest wild oysters. Included in the plan is a significant increase in the area of productive oyster beds to be set aside as sanctuaries. An increase in the acreage of sanctuaries will provide more habitat for fish, help water quality, and provide protected populations of oysters.

“Our native oyster is part of the public trust, and we have a clear and urgent responsibility to restore this iconic species to the Chesapeake Bay,” said Governor O’Malley. “Today marks a critical next step in our efforts to rebuild the population for ecological and economic benefits. By some projections, today’s actions could contribute as much as $25 million to Maryland’s economy and create over 200 jobs.”

“The Governor recognizes that we need to give more attention to restoring oysters to save the Bay ecology. That’s a huge shift.  But he also understands the economic needs of Marylanders who work on the water. The plan helps create an aquaculture-based oyster industry in the state, and also allows for some traditional harvesting, said Mark Bryer, director of TNC’s Chesapeake Program

“Governor O’Malley is proposing to do for oysters what he did for blue crabs.  Bravo. This plan will bring more oysters to the Bay.  That will be good for the ecology and good for the economy.  Oyster lovers will benefit and more jobs in the seafood industry will be created.  What a win for everyone,” said Will Baker, president of CBF.

Currently, many productive oyster beds in the Chesapeake Bay are planted specifically for fishermen to harvest. That practice not only slowed the restoration of once-thriving oyster numbers in the Bay, but also failed to revive the previously profitable oyster industry. In other regions the industry has become profitable by farming oysters—using cages, bags, and racks for raising hatchery-produced oyster seed. Maryland’s new plan aims to help watermen transition to farming oysters rather than harvesting wild oysters.

In recent years science has concluded that larger, interconnected oyster sanctuaries rather than flat beds are better able to thrive despite disease and other stresses. The new plan would mean concentrating sanctuaries in a few rivers and areas, rather than scattering them, and building sanctuary oyster reefs higher, which may make them better able to persist in the face of degraded water quality.

Setting aside, restoring and protecting productive bars is in the public interest, as unspoiled oyster reefs serve important ecological functions that benefit everyone.  Oysters are pollution vacuum cleaners – a single oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day.   And the reefs that oysters form provide essential habitat for commercially and recreationally important fish.

Recently as little as four percent of productive oyster bottom is protected from harvest; the Governor’s proposal sets aside 24 percent of the Bay bottom that currently is, or can be, a productive oyster habitat as an oyster sanctuary area. These sanctuary areas have been identified scientifically to ensure a high degree of success for oyster growth. The U.S. Army Corps has estimated about 36,000 acres of productive bottom exists in the Maryland portion of the Bay.

CBF and TNC believe this proposal to set aside 24 percent of oyster reefs should be considered a minimum step towards successful oyster restoration in the Chesapeake Bay.

The plan also proposes to substantially reduce illegal harvesting of oysters, which to date has been a significant challenge in restoring the Bay’s oysters.  The Governor’s plan proposes to curb poaching by concentrating sanctuary reefs, making them easier to patrol, and by using improved monitoring technology.

The state proposal closely follows recommendations to improve oyster restoration made last February by the Oyster Advisory Commission. The 21-member Commission of scientists, watermen, anglers, businessmen, economists, environmental advocates, and elected officials was appointed by Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Secretary John Griffin in September 2007

The plan proposes to remove many of the obstacles to oyster farming in Maryland. It lays out strategies for leasing Bay bottom to watermen or other commercial interests, and to expediting permits. In addition to recommendations made by the Oyster Advisory Commission, the plan closely follows aquaculture legislation passed this past spring in the Maryland General Assembly.

CBF is actively involved in oyster restoration, with its state-of-the-art restoration vessel the Patricia Campbell and its Oyster Recovery Center in Southern Anne Arundel County.

TNC is working in partnership with CBF on oyster restoration in the Chesapeake Bay, and also recently released a report assessing the health of shellfish reefs worldwide.

source: CBF press release

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) announced its recognition of Governor Martin O’Malley for his leadership on environmental issues. O’Malley was honored at the CBF Board of Trustees meeting at the Willard Hotel.

“I am not going to tell you – nor would the Governor say – that the job is done,” said CBF President William C. Baker.  “But I believe that a new day may be dawning for the Chesapeake Bay, and Governor O’Malley’s hard work and leadership have helped us get here.”

“Restoring the health of the Chesapeake Bay is among the greatest public health challenges of our time,” said Governor O’Malley. “For the past few decades, our Bay has been in the intensive care unit, and while our work here is far from done, it is an honor and a privilege to partner with you as we work to bring her off life support. Thank you for this gracious recognition and for your continued leadership in the fight to save the Bay.”

Among other accomplishments, CBF recognized O’Malley for:

* BayStat: Through an Executive Order in 2007, the Governor created this rigorous accounting program for state agencies to ensure progress is being made in restoring the Bay. Recognizing the importance of coordination and frequent assessment of restoration efforts, the Obama administration incorporated the BayStat approach in the recent draft Executive Order reports on Federal Bay Restoration efforts in a program called ChesapeakeStat.

* Two-year Milestones: The Governor went a step further than the other members of the Chesapeake Executive Council and committed to have all of the necessary implementation mechanisms for clean water in place by 2020, five years in front of the other watershed states, the District of Columbia and the federal government, which have committed to a 2025 deadline.

* Crabs: Governor O’Malley, working with Virginia Governor Kaine, had the vision and commitment to science-based fishery management that resulted in strong crabbing rules in 2008 to address the significant decline in the Bay’s blue crab population. As a result the Baywide crab population has showed strong improvement in last winter’s survey.

* Oysters: Working with Governor Kaine, Governor O’Malley’s administration played a key role in the decision to prohibit the introduction of Asian oysters in the Bay. In addition he has worked to restore the native oyster population and cut through the red tape that prevented the development of an oyster aquaculture industry in Maryland.

* Global warming: When the O’Malley Administration sponsored Maryland’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act it placed Maryland out in front of the efforts to curb global warming and helped put in place lasting environmental protections.  The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act requires the State to achieve a 25 percent reduction in statewide greenhouse gas emissions from 2006 levels by 2020.

* Environmental Education / Children in Nature: The Governor has positioned Maryland as the nation’s leader on environmental education. In 2008, the Governor issued an Executive Order creating the Partnership for Children in Nature. The Governor tasked the partnership with creating an environmental literacy plan for Maryland students, increasing opportunities for structured outdoor learning in state parks, and ensuring the environmental literacy of students that graduate from Maryland schools.

“The clock is ticking for the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay, and we are fortunate to have Governor O’Malley’s leadership at this critical time,” said D. Keith Campbell, Chairman of CBF’s Board of Trustees.