Chesapeake Bay Program Fall 2019 Update

 

Manokin River Chosen as Final Oyster Restoration Site

 

The Chesapeake Bay Program is pleased to announce that the Manokin River has been selected as the tenth Chesapeake Bay tributary for large-scale oyster reef restoration. The Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement calls for the restoration of the native oyster population in 10 tributaries by 2025—and the Manokin River is the final tributary to be selected for this Chesapeake Bay Program partnership effort. Situated off Tangier Sound, along Maryland’s Eastern Shore, the Manokin River is over 16,000 acres and has been an oyster sanctuary area since 2010. In addition to the Maryland sites, large-scale oyster restoration is also taking place in five locations in Virginia: Great Wicomico, Lafayette, Lower York, Lynnhaven and Piankatank rivers.

• According to the 2018 Maryland Oyster Restoration Update, 773.58 acres of oyster reefs have been restored in Harris Creek and the Little Choptank and Tred Avon rivers. While all initial restoration work—construction of reefs and seeding with spat-on-shell oysters—has been completed in Harris Creek, work continues in the Tred Avon and Little Choptank rivers. Monitoring efforts to date, which track the health of restored reefs, show the work has been successful: A recent report notes that from 2015 through 2017, a total of 56 restored reefs in Harris Creek were monitored—and 98% of those reefs met the minimum threshold for both oyster density and biomass.
• The 2018 Virginia Oyster Restoration Update states that 510 acres of oyster reefs have been restored by either constructing reefs, seeding or are otherwise already considered healthy, with the Lafayette River fully restored. Two hundred and twenty-one acres of reefs remain to be restored in the Lynnhaven and Piankatank rivers. The Great Wicomico and the Lower York rivers were approved as restoration sites in December 2017.

 

Chesapeake Executive Council meets in Oxon Hill, Md.

 

Governor Larry Hogan, Governor Ralph Northam, EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler, Chesapeake Bay Commission Chair Tawanna Gaines and representatives from other Bay jurisdictions gathered at Oxon Hill Manor on September 5, 2019 for the annual Chesapeake Executive Council meeting. The chosen speakers for this year’s meeting made the connection between the importance of using pollutant reduction strategies that would benefit both the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement and the Chesapeake Bay Total Maximum Daily Load. Skip Stiles, executive director of Wetlands Watch, spoke of the importance of forest buffers and wetlands – two outcomes in which the partnership is woefully behind in meeting their goals – not only in reducing pollution, but also in helping to combat climate change. Queen Richardson, RiverSmart Homes program assistant with the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay, offered her unique experience as a call to integrate green job training programs into pollutant reduction strategies. Farm Service Agency Administrator Richard Fordyce attended and spoke, and Governor Hogan was re-elected as Chair for a third term.

 

Written by Rachel Felver