2011 From the Bay – For the Bay Dine-Out

Maryland’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) recently released the results from 2011 From the Bay, For the Bay Dine Out. Through a collaborative partnership among regional restaurants, DNR and the Oyster Recovery Partnership (ORP), the week-long celebration raised $20,240 to support Chesapeake Bay oyster restoration.

More than 170 restaurants in Maryland, Washington D.C., Delaware, Pennsylvania and Virginia participated in the promotion, which took place October 2-9, 2011. The restaurants donated $1 from every Maryland seafood dinner sold during the week; the money is being donated to ORP to support oyster restoration efforts.

Top participating restaurants included the Boatyard Bar & Grill in Annapolis, Woodberry Kitchen and Ryleigh’s Oyster Bar in Baltimore, and Matchbox Restaurants in Washington, DC. Together they donated $5,626.

ORP’s oyster restoration activities include collecting, aging, cleaning oyster shells and planting spat (baby oysters), on the oyster shells. The spat is produced by the University of Maryland, Center for Environmental Science Horn Point Hatchery.

The Oyster Recovery Partnership’s most publically-recognized program – the region’s oyster Shell Recycling Alliance – is made up of nearly 100 restaurants, caterers and seafood distributors from the mid-Atlantic region, as well as citizen volunteers who collect donated used oyster shells from these businesses to aid in restoring the Chesapeake Bay.

The Shell Recycling Alliance has quickly grown to provide 15 percent of Maryland’s shell needs at current oyster production levels, prolonging the State’s limited shell reserves. For more information on the Oyster Recovery Partnership, visit oysterrecovery.org.

source: MD DNR