GRASONVILLE, Md. - The 10 billionth oyster was dumped into the Chesapeake Bay, this afternoon.
Aboard the 'Lead Dog' and 'Lucky Dog', was Governor Larry Hogan, the Department of Natural Resources, members of the Oyster Recovery Partnership, and others. The boats took those to the dumping site where a third boat dumped billions of oysters. The strategy was done in circular motions, to evenly distribute the oysters. And, all the oysters' dumped were oyster spat (baby oysters).
According to the Oyster Recovery Partnership's Executive Director, this was a huge milestone and long time coming. "Everybody was excited. Talk about 10 billion oysters. It's taken about three decades to get to this point. We have planted about half of those in the last decade. And, we are hoping we are going to double that, going forward. The morale was just pure excitement," says Ward Slacum.
The Oyster Recovery Partnership worked alongside local watermen, the Department of Natural Resources, Federal Agencies, and several NGO's, according to Slacum.
Governor Hogan participated by dumping a few baskets into the water.
"Oysters really help us to clean the bay and it cycles through the water as great filter. But, it's also a part of our heritage and culture. It's a great industry. We want to support the watermen and everybody loves to come here to eat oysters," says Governor Hogan.
Local waterman and President of the Talbot Watermen's Association says, they play an important part for this day. "Shells is a key word. Everyone should know that the most important thing about the oyster is the shell. With this 10 billion oysters, every one of those oyster spat went on a shell. And, more than likely, that shell was caught by a watermen. We are a big part of this going on," says Jeff Harrison.