Thanks to community support, the 2021 Severn River Build a Reef campaign is a resounding success! This week, 20 million spat-on-shell (baby oysters) will find their new homes on reefs near the Severna Park side of the Route 50 bridge in Annapolis – near Winchester Pond and Jonas and Anne Catharine Green Park. The campaign exceeded a $30,000 fundraising goal, raising more than $38,000. This effort builds off the success of the 2020 Build a Reef campaign, which enabled the planting of 16.9 million juvenile oysters in the Severn River last summer. Community stewardship is proving to be a powerful tool to bring about positive results for the Severn!
It’s not too late to donate to Operation Build a Reef! Click here support this year’s planting.
The planting will take place Friday, August 20, at approximately 11 am. We will broadcast it via Facebook Live, and the public is invited to watch by making COVID-safe arrangements. Keep an eye on our Facebook page for updates.
Operation Build a Reef: Severn River is a partnership between the Severn River Association and the Oyster Recovery Partnership. It is supported by grassroots fundraising as well as funds generously contributed by title sponsor Smyth Jewelers, M&T Bank, and the Delaplaine Foundation. A special thanks is due to the dedicated staff at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s Horn Point Oyster Hatchery for diligently working throughout the pandemic to ensure oyster restoration activities continue throughout the Chesapeake Bay