{You're Invited!} Oxfords & Oysters event 9/18 benefiting the Oyster Recovery Partnership

Restoring our oyster population, cleaning our bay, preserving our future...this is the mission of the Oyster Recovery Partnership.

Above, bins of oysters ready to be returned to the Choptank River where they are part of an effort to re-establish the oyster reefs throughout the Bay.

Founded in 1994, the Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP) is a dedicated facilitator and implementer of most major oyster restoration activities for the State of Maryland and has become one of the largest groups actively restoring oysters in the nation.

We took a tour of the Horn Point Hatchery for a first-hand look at how the ORP's restoration efforts have returned more than 2 billion oysters into the Bay:

Oysters serve as the kidneys of the Bay by filtering silt, sediment and nitrates out of the water. These mature animals can filter at a rate of up to 50 gallons per day. The Bay was once filtered in just days, but now it takes more than a year! Not only has this impacted the Bay's ecosystem, it has also had a major economic impact on many of our rural coastal communities - all but destroying a once-thriving watermen culture.

Additionally of note, the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will have effects on the Chesapeake Bay’s Oyster community (assuming current level of impacts continue). Experts anticipate increased costs of oysters would lead to increased harvest pressure. A reduced availability of large quantities of inexpensive oysters may prevent some MD/VA shucking houses from opening. Reduced local shucking will reduce shell availability, increasing the cost of spat-on-shell oyster production.

Above, tanks of colorful algae for which to nourish the spat.

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the United States. Home to more than 17 million people, the Chesapeake Bay is one of the country's most valued natural treasures, offering countless recreational opportunities and supplying millions of pounds of seafood to the world each year.

What can you do to help improve the Bay's health?

Join us on Saturday September 18th for our first annual Oxfords & Oysters party from 3 - 7pm, featuring a live band {Burnt Sienna} + open bar + oysters + food and a great time at Little Havana located on the waterfront on Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

The Oyster Recovery Partnership, a Maryland 501 (c)(3) organization, will receive a portion of the proceeds from Oxfords & Oysters, a social event we're hosting to both celebrate the end of the summer season and bring attention to the ORP's mission. For more information about ORP, please visit their website: www.oysterrecovery.org

Some of the inspiring, informative and passionate Oyster Recovery Partnership team members who made the tour an incredibly educational experience: Mutt Meritt (ORP), Heather Epkins (ORP), Stephan Abel (ORP), Jennifer Grove (Sky Blue Events), Bryan Gomes (ORP)