Agriculture

And they’re doing it again this year.

At these designated drop-off points, volunteer coordinators help distribute the bivalves to anyone interested in growing oysters. They continue to do so until late spring, when the oysters should be large enough to be transported and planted in sanctuaries.

In Pasadena, the Eagle Cove School has become an oyster-holding and spat-distribution station for the program, a cooperative effort among the ORP, the University of Maryland, and the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services.

Eagle Cove’s staff, volunteers, and students work with the Magothy River Association to give away all of the oysters (save the ones that the third-graders grow and care for throughout the school year).

“All of the students get involved, beginning in September when the kindergartners use wagons to lug the oyster shells down to the water,” says third-grade teacher Vicki Dabrowka.

“Every Friday, the third-graders go out to the dock to analyze the oysters. They check the salinity and the temperature and they chart their findings throughout the year.”

The project ends with the students and oysters aboard a Chesapeake Bay Foundation boat.

“We load up right at the dock and take the oysters to the sanctuaries,” says Dabrowka. “The kids study the maps and talk about what needs to be done. We perform different tasks and then chuck the oysters over as the kids yell, 'Be free!'”

She adds, “In 19 years of teaching, I consider this the best field trip ever.”

Dabrowka’s daughter, Delaney, a third-grader, agrees.

“We’re in charge of oyster cages and if we don’t take care of them, then the oysters get bad and they could die,” she says.

“We all like to take care of them. It’s important.”

Chris Judy, Maryland DNR’s shellfish manager, notes that volunteers - who can help identify waterfront property owners willing to become oyster growers and/or deliver oyster cages - are always needed.

For more information, visit www.oysters.maryland.gov.

Keeping Watermen at Work

Count watermen among the many groups of Marylanders excited about oyster rejuvenation in the Chesapeake Bay.

They’re now working with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the Oyster Recovery Partnership, and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science through the Waterman Work Program.

Since the Free State has lost 80 percent of its oyster bars and nearly equal numbers of oyster-processing companies and harvesters, watermen can no longer make a living just hauling oysters.

According to Larry Simms, head of the Maryland Watermen’s Association, 694 of Maryland’s 1,500 working watermen have purchased oyster surcharge licenses so they can be paid to oyster, a task which includes dredging riverbeds and collecting and cleaning shells.