Chesapeake Bay News

Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently released the results from 2011 From the Bay, For the Bay Dine Out. Through a collaborative partnership among regional restaurants, DNR and the Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP), the week-long celebration raised $20,240 to support Chesapeake Bay oyster restoration.

More than 170 restaurants in Maryland, Washington D.C., Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia participated in the promotion, which took place October 2-9, 2011. The restaurants donated $1 from every Maryland seafood dinner sold during the week; the money is being donated to ORP to support oyster restoration efforts.

Top participating restaurants included the Boatyard Bar & Grill in Annapolis, Woodberry Kitchen and Ryleigh’s Oyster Bar in Baltimore, and Matchbox Restaurants in Washington, DC. Together they donated $5,626.

ORP’s oyster restoration activities include collecting, aging, cleaning oyster shells and planting spat (baby oysters), on the oyster shells. The spat is produced by the University of Maryland, Center for Environmental Science Horn Point Hatchery.

The Oyster Recovery Partnership’s most publically-recognized program – the region’s oyster Shell Recycling Alliance – is made up of nearly 100 restaurants, caterers and seafood distributors from the mid-Atlantic region, as well as citizen volunteers who collect donated used oyster shells from these businesses to aid in restoring the Chesapeake Bay.

The Shell Recycling Alliance has quickly grown to provide 15 percent of Maryland’s shell needs at current oyster production levels, prolonging the State’s limited shell reserves. For more information on the Oyster Recovery Partnership, visit oysterrecovery.org.

source: MD DNR

Annapolis Seafood Market has partnered with the Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP) to collect used oyster shells from their stores and participating restaurants to help promote the expansion of oyster beds in the Chesapeake Bay. As part of their program, Annapolis Seafood Market will display educational signage inside each store for their customers to learn how they can participate in this important recycling effort.

Annapolis Seafood Market utilizes five-gallon buckets at each of their locations to collect used oyster shells. During their normal delivery routes, drivers drop the empty buckets, pick up the filled ones then return them to Annapolis Seafood Market’s Distribution Center in Annapolis where they are transferred to a 400-bushel shell collection container.

ORP and its partners collect the shells weekly and transport them to the Horn Point Oyster Hatchery near Cambridge, Maryland where they begin the drying and aging process. Later in the process, young oyster spat are allowed to attach to old shells and re-planted to help repopulate the Bay’s oyster population.

Nearly 100 restaurants and catering companies currently participate in the Shell Recycling Alliance.

For more information visit http://www.oysterrecovery.org/

source:  Oyster Recovery Partnership

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) Artificial Reef Program joined the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) on August 11 to place 306 oyster spat-laden reef balls on a two-acre site near Cooks Point in the Choptank River using CBF’s oyster research vessel Patricia Campbell.

Volunteers from CBF and the Dorchester County chapter of the Maryland Saltwater Sportfishermen’s Association (MSSA) built the reef balls at the Oyster Restoration Center in Shady Side, Md. and at a private site on the Eastern Shore. West Marine and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration provided grant support for building the reef balls and setting the spat.

Reef balls add three-dimensional structure and habitat for aquatic organisms such as mussels, oysters, tunicates, marine worms and myriad other species, which are vital components of the Chesapeake Bay’s food chain. Finfish species such as striped bass, flounder, croaker, spot, sea bass and others, then utilize these habitats for food and shelter.

For more information on Maryland’s artificial reef initiative, visit dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/reefs/ or the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s restoration efforts go to cbf.org

source: MD DNR

Maryland is implementing a new streamlined and centralized aquaculture permitting process for growing oysters and other shellfish in Maryland waters. Thanks to a realignment of State requirements approved by the General Assembly earlier this year and a cooperative effort between the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, qualifying applicants will now be able to submit a joint state-federal application and the Corps is expediting the approval process through issuance of the Regional General Permit.

Along with expanded sanctuaries and increased enforcement against poaching, one of the key components of Governor O’Malley’s 2010 Oyster Restoration and Aquaculture Development Plan is a streamlined permit process. As of July 1, all aquaculture functions have been consolidated and transferred to DNR, which now coordinates all aquaculture permitting, issues water column leases and staffs the Aquaculture Coordinating Council and Aquaculture Review Board.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Baltimore District approved the new permit, which goes into effect on August 15. The permit will be available for aquaculture projects up to 50 acres placed directly on the water bottom, 5 acres for aquaculture cages on the bottom and 3 acres for floating aquaculture projects. This covers activities such as shellfish seeding, rearing and cultivation as well as the installation and deployment of aquaculture structures including cages, floats, racks and trays.

Since September 2010, DNR has received 38 applications to lease nearly 1,600 acres. 24 of those applicants are commercial watermen. These permits all require federal approval by the Corps. On August 1, DNR began accepting applications for new aquaculture leases within oyster sanctuaries. In less than two weeks, DNR received 6 complete applications and expects more as word of this new opportunity spreads.

The Corps administers Section 404 of the Clean Water Act and Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act. These authorities require that a Department of the Army permit is issued for the discharge of dredged or fill material into waterways and wetlands; and for the placement of structures in, over, or under navigable waters.

A copy of the public notice and permit can be found online here: http://www.nab.usace.army.mil/Wetlands%20Permits/public_notices.htm

source: MD DNR

River coordinators from 13 of 18 Chesapeake Bay participating tributaries met on March 2 with Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) staff on Kent Island to prepare for the Marylanders Grow Oysters summer growing season.

The 13 local program sponsors, managers from the DNR Fisheries Service shellfish division and the Oyster Recovery Partnership spent the day discussing the results of the past three years, the benefits of the program for oysters and for the Bay citizenry, and how the program can be improved.

Coordinators shared their experiences and advice with one another to improve their efforts and methods. They also discussed logistics for the collection of oysters this summer, which will be planted in local sanctuaries. Last summer, approximately 1.9 million oysters were grown by the volunteer growers and were planted in sanctuaries.

Through the Marylanders Grow Oysters Program, citizen volunteers tend to young oysters growing in wire mesh cages suspended from private piers for their first year of life. The oyster spat and cages are provided by DNR and other program partners at no charge to the volunteers. The oysters require minimal care – mostly rinsing the cages every two weeks.

Citizen oyster growers enjoy the personal rewards of stewardship and learn about oysters while contributing to the enhancement of an oyster reef in their local tributary. The year-old oysters are collected and planted in a local oyster sanctuary, and a new group of young oysters is distributed to participating growers to start the process again.

In more good news for Maryland’s native oyster, DNR’s most recent oyster survey showed promising results. The number of spat or baby oysters in Maryland waters is at its highest level since 1997, the survival rate for young oysters is also up and more Marylanders are looking to start up or expand aquaculture businesses.

Governor O’Malley launched the program in 2008 with nearly 900 oyster cages along the Tred Avon River. DNR expanded the program with various oyster partners and now about 8,000 cages, tended by approximately 1,500 growers, are located in 18 tributaries. The oyster cages are built by Maryland inmates at Maryland Correctional Enterprises in Hagerstown and the Eastern Pre-Release Unit in Church Hill. Additional inmates assist with oyster spat production at the DNR hatchery in St. Mary’s County.

The Marylanders Grow Oysters Program is managed by the DNR in conjunction with the Oyster Recovery Partnership, the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science which produces the majority of the spat, and the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

For more information about Marylanders Grow Oysters visit oysters.maryland.gov

source: MD DNR

According to the State’s recently completed fall oyster survey, the number of spat or baby oysters in Maryland waters is at its highest level since 1997, the survival rate for young oysters is also up, and more Marylanders are looking to start up or expand aquaculture businesses.

Since 1939, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and its predecessor agencies have monitored the status of Maryland’s oyster population via annual field surveys. The survey tracks three critical components of the population: Spatfall Intensity, which measures reproduction levels (recruitment) and offers a window into future population levels; disease infection levels; and annual mortality rates of oysters.

The 2-month 2010 fall population assessment, which encompassed 260 oyster bars and 399 samples throughout the Bay and its tributaries, concluded on December 18.  At nearly 80 spat (baby oysters) per bushel, the 2010 spatfall is the highest since 1997, and about 5 times the 25-year average of 16.

Eleven of the 53 oyster bars included in this index had their highest or second highest spat counts since 1985.  The elevated spatfall was a coast-wide phenomenon, with other mid-Atlantic states also reporting better than average numbers.

Equally encouraging was wide distribution of spat throughout the Bay and its tributaries: While the heaviest counts were in the lower Bay’s higher salinity areas, where reproduction is typically more successful, a moderate spatfall also occurred in lower salinity areas that generally receive little to no spat sets at all.  These included the upper Bay as far north as Pooles Island and the upper reaches of the Chester, Choptank and Patuxent River tributaries. Due to reduced disease pressure, oysters historically have good survivorship in these areas, some of which are now protected sanctuaries under the State’s new oyster plan.

Even more encouraging news for the beleaguered oyster is that the frequency and intensity of diseases remains low, based on December’s interim report from the Paul S. Sarbanes Cooperative Oxford Lab.  Of the two diseases that have devastated populations for decades, Dermo, although still widely distributed, remains below the long-term average for the eighth consecutive year, and MSX appears to again be in retreat after an advance in 2009. View chart.

The survey indicates that oyster survivorship — the percentage of oysters found alive in a sample — was at 88 percent, the highest level since 1985, before diseases put a stranglehold on the population; this is more than double 2002 when record disease levels left only 42 percent of Maryland’s population alive. Scientists are hopeful that favorable mortality in recent years may reflect an increase in disease resistance.

Last year, the State of Maryland adopted regulations to implement a new Oyster Restoration and Aquaculture Development Plan. The plan increased Maryland’s network of oyster sanctuaries from 9 percent to 24 percent of remaining quality habitat; increased areas open to leasing for oyster aquaculture, and established a $2.2 million financial assistance program for aquaculture interests; and maintained 76 percent of the Bay’s remaining quality oyster habitat for a more targeted, sustainable, and scientifically managed public oyster fishery.

Since last fall 26 Marylanders have applied for 35 new leases to grow oysters and the State has received 27 applications for more than $2 million in available funding for start up and expansion of aquaculture businesses.  Blue crab disaster funds are being used to support the program.

In a coordinated effort among the Oyster Recovery Partnership, the University of Maryland, the NOAA Chesapeake Bay office and DNR, over 2.5 billion hatchery produced spat have been produced and planted in Maryland’s portion of the Chesapeake Bay since 2000, and thousands of acres of buried shell have been reclaimed from derelict oyster reefs.

Since 1994, the Chesapeake Bay oyster population has languished at 1 percent of historic levels. Over the past 25 years, the amount of suitable oyster habitat has declined by 80 percent — from 200,000 acres to just 36,000 acres.

Maryland’s annual oyster harvest has fallen from an average of 2.5 million bushels in the late 1960s to about 100,000 bushels a year since 2002, while the number of oystermen working Maryland’s portion of the Bay has dwindled from more than 2000 to just 550.

source: MD DNR press release

Maryland has announced that its new shellfish aquaculture financing program will be accepting a second round of applications between January 2 and January 31, 2011. The program received 16 applications totaling more than $1.3 million during the first round, which closed on November 30.

There is a total of $2.2 million currently available for the program, which is a cooperative effort among the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA), the University of the Maryland Sea Grant Extension (UME) and the Maryland Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation (MARBIDCO).

“We are very pleased with the original response to this program, which we created to provide affordable financing to watermen and other individuals starting or expanding commercial shellfish aquaculture operations,” said Governor O’Malley. “This second application period will allow those who were unable to meet the original deadline another opportunity to participate.”

The new shellfish aquaculture loan program is a subsidized program with principal payments returning to a revolving fund to support additional shellfish aquaculture funding needs in the future. The loan program offers partial loan forgiveness for borrowers meeting certain performance conditions. MARBIDCO is pricing the loans at a fixed annual interest rate not to exceed 4.5 percent. A Shellfish Aquaculture Financing Committee, including representatives from DNR, MDA, UME, a Maryland farm credit association, and MARBIDCO, has been established to evaluate applications and proposed business plans.

As with the first round of funding, MARBIDCO and DNR intend to give priority to applicants who will begin shellfish production operations in 2011. Those who plan shellfish production operations in 2011 must hold a DNR shellfish aquaculture lease, or must have applied to DNR for a shellfish aquaculture lease by no later than 5:00 p.m., January 31, 2010.

More than two-thirds of the funding for the program comes from a federal blue crab fishery disaster allocation for Maryland. The National Marine Fisheries Service award, which was requested by Governor O’Malley and advocated for by Senator Mikulski and Maryland’s congressional delegation in 2008, has supported a variety of watermen work programs as well as a program to retire inactive commercial limited crab catcher licenses. Additional funds are being provided by DNR to supplement the federal funding.

To begin the application process, interested parties may contact Karl Roscher of the Maryland Aquaculture Coordinating Office (MDA) at 410-841-5724. An application and aquaculture business planning template are available at www.dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/oysters/industry/funding.asp.

source: MD DNR press release

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission is trying something new to expand the ecologically beneficial farming of oysters and clams on state-owned water bottoms.

In January, the Commission is expected to approve the creation of 15 new Aquaculture Opportunity Zones.

These zones will set aside more than 1,000 acres of prime state-owned water bottoms for the farming of shellfish in cages. The zones appear to be perfect for shellfish farming, also known as aquaculture.

The zones, which were identified through extensive, on-site Commission inspections,  are located on hard bottom, in clean shallow waters that are without underwater grasses that must be protected to preserve their value as nurseries for fish and crabs. These zones also are sufficiently sheltered, within reasonable distance of off-loading sites and are not within the riparian areas of waterfront property owners.

The zones are not on privately leased oyster grounds or on public oyster grounds known as Baylor Grounds.

The zones total 1,004.3 acres. They include areas in the Rappahannock River, in the tributaries of Mobjack Bay, and around Tangier Island. Roughly half of the total zone acreage is near Tangier Island.

“These are excellent locations for the farming of oysters and clams in on-bottom cages,” said Doug Domenech, Virginia’s Secretary of Natural Resources. “Shellfish have an amazing ability to purge the water, which will help clean the Bay, and the economic benefits from an expanded aquaculture industry are potentially quite substantial. This is a win-win.”

In the new aquaculture opportunity zones, the Commission will waive the normal costs to lease water bottoms for private oyster growing, including surveying, advertising, deed recording and the payment of annual rent. These costs typically range from $600 to $1,100.

A streamlined permitting process will eliminate time-consuming surveying and advertising requirements. A simple application will be required, spelling out how many shellfish cages are to be placed, and where and how they would be placed.

“We want people to take advantage of this exciting opportunity, especially commercial oystermen,” VMRC Fisheries Chief Jack Travelstead. “This is an incredible deal. Shellfish aquaculture is more dependable than going out and catching oysters, and reduces pressure on our wild stocks that have been suffering under the pressure of two oyster diseases. Also, we will continue to train commercial watermen in aquaculture as much as our budget allows.”

The new aquaculture zones will be divided up into a maximum of 5-acre blocks and assigned on a first-come, first-serve basis to any Virginian. A one-time application fee of $100 will be levied. Only Virginia residents may apply. Harvest reporting is mandatory. Other permits may be required.

Some annual fees apply for use of this valuable state-owned property in a for-profit venture, just as they do for privately leased water bottoms for shellfish farming. Only on-bottom cages will be permitted in the new aquaculture zones, marked by one buoy each. The cages cannot be placed near navigation channels or private piers without the consent of the property owners.

The Aquaculture Opportunity Zones are authorized under a bipartisan bill sponsored by Del. Albert Pollard that passed the Virginia General Assembly earlier this year and was signed into law by Gov. Robert F. McDonnell.

The Commission has scheduled a public hearing and a vote on the creation of the new zones at its Jan. 25, 2011 meeting.

A single adult oyster can filter up to 60 gallons of water a day. Shellfish aquaculture is a booming, multi-million dollar industry in Virginia and oyster gardening under private piers and along the shoreline of privately owned waterfront property is becoming increasingly popular among environmentally concerned citizens.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Fisheries Service will launch a commercial shellfish tagging program in August 2011 to meet U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) national public safety requirements. DNR will host three open houses in November to discuss the elements of the program and to solicit ideas from watermen and aquaculturists about the development and implementation of this important program.

Tagging shellfish will allow public health officials to trace back to a source if an illness is caused by eating shellfish. A shellfish harvesting area can be checked for water quality and other potential health concerns. DNR, the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and the Maryland Department of the Environment may then take action to reduce the public risk. The tagging system will also enhance DNR’s ability to monitor the harvest and manage a sustainable fishery.

The proposed plan will require watermen to tag each bushel of shellfish in a standardized container. The tag will allow public safety officials to determine precisely where, when and by whom the shellfish were harvested.

The FDA has an informative slide show on the National Shellfish Sanitation Program online at www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm180442.htm.

Additionally, two of the open houses will include representatives from the Maryland Oyster Aquaculture Financing Program to discuss the elements and requirements for participating in an exciting new opportunity. As part of Governor Martin O’Malley’s Oyster Restoration and Aquaculture Program, $2.2 million in subsidized loans are immediately being made available for aquaculture projects. Representatives of the program will be on hand at the Annapolis (November and Princess Anne (November 22) open houses to answer general questions and to schedule appointments with interested parties to begin the business planning and application processes.

Those seeking subsidized financing for shellfish production must hold a DNR shellfish aquaculture lease or must have applied for a shellfish aquaculture lease by 5 p.m. on Monday, November 15, 2010.

Information on the Aquaculture Financing Program is available from the Maryland Department of Agriculture at (410) 841-5724 and online at www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/oysters/industry/funding.asp.

Shellfish Tagging Open House Schedule:
November 8 from 4 to 8 p.m., C-1 Conference Room, Tawes Building, 580 Taylor Ave., Annapolis
November 22 from 3 to 7 p.m., Somerset County Library, 11767 Beechwood St., Princess Anne
November 30 from 4 to 8 p.m., Queen Anne’s County Library, 121 S. Commerce St., Centreville

source: Maryland Department of Natural Resources press release

A new Maryland program will provide subsidized loans to business owners interested in launching or expanding commercial shellfish aquaculture operations in Maryland.

Of the State’s $10.6 million oyster restoration budget for fiscal year 2011, $2.2 million in subsidized loans will be available for aquaculture projects through a partnership between the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Maryland Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation (MARBIDCO).

Maryland now offers a mix of State and Federal funding to support a revolving loan fund administered by MARBIDCO. The University of Maryland Extension (UME) and the Maryland Department of Agriculture (MDA) are also contributing to this effort, providing training and business planning assistance to current and prospective shellfish growers.

More than two-thirds of the funding for the program comes from a $15 million federal blue crab fishery disaster allocation to Maryland. The National Marine Fisheries Service award, which was requested by Governor O’Malley and advocated for by Senator Mikulski and Maryland’s congressional delegation in 2008, has supported a variety of watermen work programs as well as a program to retire inactive commercial limited crab catcher licenses.

Enacted in September, Maryland’s Oyster Restoration and Aquaculture Development plan increases Maryland’s network of oyster sanctuaries from 9 percent to 24 percent of remaining quality habitat; increases areas open to leasing for oyster aquaculture and streamlines the permitting process; and maintains 76 percent of the Bay’s remaining quality oyster habitat for a more targeted, sustainable, and scientifically managed public oyster fishery.

Shellfish aquaculture startup expenses can run from $5,000 to more than $100,000 depending on the scope of the enterprise. Obtaining a loan from traditional commercial lenders for aquaculture business projects can be challenging for small enterprises and individuals considering the two- to three-year growing period between oyster planting and growth to market size, as well as frequently the lack of available business equity and collateral security.

“This is a good start and I am glad the Governor has dedicated this initial funding to help watermen and others who are interested in pursuing aquaculture and a new business venture,” said Larry Simns, president of the Maryland Watermen’s Association.  “We have a lot to learn in this phase of the oyster arena and it appears we have men and their families who may be willing to try to make a go of it. Any financial help from the State will make it that much more doable.”

Maryland’s new aquaculture loan program is a subsidized program with all principal payments returning to a revolving fund to support an additional round of future funding.  The loan program also offers a partial loan forgiveness element for borrowers meeting certain performance conditions. MARBIDCO is pricing the loans at a fixed annual interest rate not to exceed 4.5 percent.

The State is establishing a Shellfish Aquaculture Financing Committee ? including representatives from DNR, MDA, UME, a Maryland farm credit association and MARBIDCO ? to evaluate applications and proposed business plans.

Because the demand for funding is expected to exceed short term financial resources, MARBIDCO and DNR intend to give priority to applicants who will begin shellfish production operations in 2011. Those who plan shellfish production operations next year must hold a DNR shellfish aquaculture lease, or must have applied to DNR for a shellfish aquaculture lease by no later than 5:00 p.m., Monday, November 15, 2010.   Applications for financial assistance are now being accepted by MARBIDCO, and the deadline for applications to be submitted is Tuesday, November 30, 2010.

Maryland’s FY 2011 oyster restoration budget of $10.6 million will be allocated as follows:

* $2.48 million for aquaculture development — training, technical support, loan program;

* $3.72 million for sanctuary program / ecological restoration — habitat rehabilitation, hatchery seed oysters, MGO program, program management;

* $1.53 million indirect operational support for all programs — bottom surveys, monitoring and assessment, supportive services, staff, enforcement, buoy placement and maintenance; and

* $2.91 million for management of the public oyster fishery — habitat rehabilitation, seed oysters, program management.

A shellfish aquaculture financing program application form, aquaculture business planning template, fact sheet and checklist of required submission items is available at www.dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/oysters/industry/funding.asp.

Information about the financing program and starting an aquaculture business in Maryland can also be obtained from the MDA Aquaculture Coordinating Office at (410) 841-5724.

Information concerning shellfish aquaculture leases may be obtained by calling Steve Schneider of the DNR Fisheries Services at (410) 260-8329.

source: MD DNR