Immediate Past DG Bob Parkinson – Re-reefing the bay as an eco-friendly Rotary project
The Leonardtown, MD Rotary Club is building 3 dimensional reefs out of concrete blocks and 1 foot balls (with wholes) to increase the oyster population in the Chesapeake Bay. The new reefs are located in a pro-tected part of the St Mary’s Ri-ver. M & F oysters produce millions of “spat” offspring in a lab. In three months the spat is the size of a quarter and are transferred on an oyster shell to the artificial reef. The higher they get on the reef the more algae (and more water current) the bigger they get. The oysters float out into the Bay. Each oyster filters 55 lb of water a day and releases nitro-gen thereby cleaning up the Bay. The St. Mary’s County OYSTER FESTIVAL is on Oct 19 & 20. For more info call 301-863-5015 or go to www.usoysterfest.com