“From the Bay, For the Bay” Kicks Off from Pennsylvania to Virginia Beach
New Regional Sustainability Campaign to have meaningful impact on the Chesapeake Bay
WHAT: The Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP) along with the matchbox Food Group will be hosting a press event to launch the first “From the Bay, For the Bay” Regional Sustainability Campaign to aid oyster restoration in the Chesapeake Bay. Restaurant participation spans the coastline with participants from Pennsylvania to Virginia. Featuring fresh, locally caught Maryland seafood, each participating establishment will donate $1.00 to the ORP for every Maryland seafood dinner sold from October 2-9, 2011. Every $1.00 donation allows ORP to plant 100 baby oysters back into the Bay, and once matured, these oysters could filter 5,000 gallons of water per day.
The Oyster Recovery Partnership will also reveal the Chesapeake Bay oyster restoration results for 2011, including final shell recycling collection numbers from the region’s first Oyster Shell Recycling Alliance, made up of nearly 100 restaurants, caterers and seafood whole sellers from the DC, Maryland and Virginia region, as well as citizen volunteers who donate and/or collect their used oyster shells to aid in restoring the Chesapeake Bay.
WHO: Stephan Abel, Oyster Recovery Partnership Executive Director
Mike Naylor, Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Service Assistant Director
Stephanie Reynolds Westby, NOAA Chesapeake Oyster Restoration Program Manager
Perry Smith, matchbox Food Group Principal Partner
James Huff, Executive Chef & Partner, Hells Point Seafood Annapolis
Shell Recycling Alliance leadership, partners, and volunteers
WHEN: Monday, October 3, 2011
10:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
WHERE: Matchbox (Chinatown)
713 H Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20005
www.matchboxchinatown.com
(202) 289-4441
Metro: Gallery Place (Red, Green and Yellow lines)
About the Oyster Recovery Partnership
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. ORP actively promotes, supports and restores oysters for ecologic and economic purposes. We engage in numerous Chesapeake Bay-related projects by conducting science-based “in-the-water” and “on-the-land” recovery efforts, while conducting public outreach and education in our quest to protect our environment, our heritage, and our knowledge of the Chesapeake Bay, its marshes and rivers, and the life that it sustains. Since 2000, ORP, with its coalition of partners, have produced and planted more than 3 BILLION oysters on 1,500 acres of oyster reefs, a majority of which are permanently protected or managed. In addition to major oyster recovery activities, ORP operates the Shell Recycling Alliance, supports the Marylanders Grow Oysters program, and provides aquaculture and wild fishery support services. www.oysterrecovery.org
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Contacts: Heather Epkins
hepkins@oysterrecovery.org
Oyster Recovery Partnership
(410) 990-4970
Christina Miller
christina@lindarothpr.com
Linda Roth Associates, Inc.
(703) 417-2702
