The Great Baltimore Oyster Partnership

The Great Baltimore Oyster Partnership. . Did you know that oysters can live in Baltimore's Inner Harbor? , The Great Baltimore Oyster Partnership grows baby oysters (called spat) in cages hanging from docks and piers around the Harbor, inside the cages are recycled oyster shells and attached to each shell are six or more spat. Each cage can hold up to 800 baby oysters., The cages provide a safe home fro the spat to grow by protecting them from predators and keeping them near the surface where there is plenty of food and oxygen., Image captions: , 1950 - Watermen harvesting oysters for consumption. , 2015 - A volunteer growing oysters for restoration., In the 1800s, Baltimore was the oyster canning capital of the world. 800,000 tons of oysters were harvested annually from the Chesapeake Bay. Today, volunteers help to restore the oyster population by growing spat-on-shell in cages around the Baltimore Harbor. These oysters are grown fro restoration purposes are not for human consumption., For more information visit HealthyHarbor.org., A single oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day.. , Every oyster is a tiny water filter. At their peak, there were enough oysters to filter all the water in the Chesapeake Bay every three days. Unfortunately, the Bay's oyster population has declined to 2% of historic levels. So by restoring the oyster population we are also helping to clean the Bay., After nine months the spat are permanently relocated to a Chesapeake Bay oyster sanctuary where they will live out the rest of their lives protected from harvesting., Oysters provide an ideal habitat for Chesapeake Bay animals. . This historical marker is in Inner Harbor in Baltimore Maryland