Half a Billion Oysters Planted in Chespeake Bay

Numbers remain near record lows...

CAMBRIDGE The Oyster Recovery Partnership announced Tuesday their oyster restoration outcomes in the Chesapeake Bay for the 2011 season in celebration of the "From the Bay, For the Bay" regional sustainability campaign.

In the 2011 season, on more than 315 acres in six tributaries, the partnership will have planted 510 million disease-free, native oyster spat on shell and processed more than 70,000 bushels of shell, according to a press release. The 2011 season is the fourth year more than 500 million oysters have been produced by University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Horn Point Hatchery.

Which should give you some idea of the magnitude of the problem.