Oyster reefs are one of the most endangered habitats on the planet and critical to Chesapeake Bay recovery. They not only filter and clean the water, but they also provide habitat for other important marine life such as blue crabs and striped bass. Oysters are a вЂњkeystoneвЂќ species in the Chesapeake Bay. The Chesapeake Bay oyster industry was the envy of the world until the oyster stock collapsed due to disease, habitat loss, declining water quality and historic over-harvesting. WHERE: Horn Point Lab Oyster Hatchery, University of Maryland Center for Environmental ScienceДў020 Horns Point Road, Cambridge, MD 21613 map Mike Naylor, Assistant Director, Fisheries Service, Shellfish Program, Maryland Department of Natural ResourcesДonald Boesch, President, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Stephan Abel, President, Oyster Recovery Partnership WHO: Tour with Hatchery Program Director Mutt Meritt, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science

WHEN: Tuesday, June 19, 10:00 a.m.-noon (Refreshments served beginning at 10 a.m. WHAT: Behind the Scenes Media Tour of Oyster Restoration Program and Hatchery вЂњWe can continue to provide oysters for State restoration programs to help rebuild our historic oyster industry and bring back a healthy and productive Chesapeake Bay.вЂќ вЂњWe are excited to have reached such a high level of production of spat on shell early this season,вЂќ said Hatchery Program Director Mutt Meritt. Hatchery Program Director Mutt Meritt will lead the tour, and Maryland restoration partners will be on hand to answer questions, including Oyster Recovery Partnership Executive Director Stephan Abel, Maryland Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Service Assistant Director Mike Naylor, and University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science President Don Boesch. The hatchery is located at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental ScienceвЂ™s Horn Point Laboratory along the Choptank River in Cambridge, Maryland. Join restoration officials for a tour of the hatchery and the new spat вЂњsetting pierвЂќ to see how baby oysters (вЂњspatвЂќ) are grown and deployed into the Bay. to noon to see how MarylandвЂ™s restoration program - a partnership between the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, the Oyster Recovery Partnership, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and others - is helping to bring healthy oyster populations back to the Chesapeake Bay. Join us for a Behind the Scenes Media Tour on Tuesday, June 19, from 10 a.m. Join us for behind-the-scenes media tour June 19, 2012Д¬AMBRIDGE, MD (June 11, 2012) - The Horn Point Lab Oyster Hatchery is currently producing record numbers of baby oysters, or вЂњspat,вЂќ to be used in Chesapeake Bay oyster restoration efforts. Record spat production aids MarylandвЂ™s oyster restoration

Baby oyster spat