Oyster King, the Oyster and Chesapeake Bay |
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The oyster is the Bay's filtration system. The oyster is a bi-valve filter feeder.
50 years ago the oyster reefs of The Chesapeake Bay filtered the entire body of water in one to three days. There were billions of them. The fisheries thrived. Watermen accumulated considerable wealth. Today there just aren't oysters to keep the Bay clean. Watermen moonlight pumping gas and doing odd jobs to make ends meet. Ironically it’s invasive fishing practices like dragging and dredging the reefs that has created the present ecological imbalance.
The only way to rebuild The Chesapeake Bay water body is to first rebuild the oyster population. The bottom of the Bay is for the most part lifeless. No sunlight penetrates and there is no oxygen to either promote life or complete the decay process. Oysters must be grown in the top of the water column now that the bottom strata is so seriously depleted.
The oyster is the single most important critter for the health of the Bay.
Enter Oyster King, Inc., bringing new technology and an action plan that calls for participation by government, industry and the public at large.
Company Chairman and Founder Andrew Murdza has invented and patented a device that he calls a "Floating Oyster Hotel". This unique growth cage suspends a large tray of oyster spat (baby oysters able to attach themselves) within the top three feet of the water. The top waters have higher oxygen levels and is loaded with the nutrients that oysters need. Oysters held in this position grow bigger and faster than they do in nature. In fact oysters grown in this way are mature enough in just nine months to be put into a top-water sanctuary where they could single-handedly restore The Chesapeake Bay's health.
When Oysters Rule
Restoring The Chesapeake Bay will have a profound impact on the Maryland economy. We can expect to see a re-establishment of the fisheries and establishment of sustainable fisheries. Responding to a healthy environment the food chain will regain its natural balance and there will again be an abundance of fresh healthy food-fish like bass, rock fish, scup, shad, and blue crab and a host of other delicacies.
Tourism involving sports and recreational activities such as swimming, boating and fishing represents tens of billions of dollars annually to the state of Maryland
So what's the program?
Here's Oyster Kings three phase initiative:
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The Dock Of The Bay
Everyone with waterfront property on The Chesapeake Bay and connected waterways can play an important part in this initiative by placing a Floating Oyster Hotel under their dock or pier.
The price of participation is $500 for which a $500 tax credit has been specifically legislated and provided for on the 502 Maryland Income Tax form. Without the support of our state leaders this part of the program would not be possible. Oyster King technicians will visit all "hotel" sites four times a year to ensure the healthy development of spat into oysters mature enough to drop to the all important reefs.
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Oyster Acres
This initiative is essentially the same as the Dock of the Bay with the main difference being that it is aimed at concerned citizens who do not have waterfront property and have the desire to be a part of our reef-building program. Floating Oyster Hotels will be anchored in non-navigable waters, and be managed and maintained by Oyster King’s technicians.
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Open Waters
Oyster King Inc. will be approaching corporations, large and small, interested in sponsoring large tracts of non-navigable waters for the purpose of cultivating young oysters earmarked specifically for reef building.
At this juncture all of Oyster King Inc.'s initiatives are aimed at population building. With the oyster population rebuilt, Chesapeake Bay will once again be able to sustain itself and its natural balance.
Obviously the Floating Oyster Hotel promises to play an integral part in building a vibrant commercial oyster fishery. Aquaculture and fish farming are the way of the future. For the moment we have to put the oyster back in charge. The oyster is as important to the life of The Chesapeake Bay as plankton is to life on earth. Plankton is where the oxygen in our atmosphere first came from.
Please join us in this important undertaking by making the Oyster Your World.
To get involved call Oyster King 1, Incorporated at 410-255-1492 or visit our website at www.oysterking1.com