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Cambridge, Maryland
This project was funded in FY2021 through the NOAA Office of Habitat Conservation and the NOAA Recreational Fishing Initiative.
The Bill Burton Fishing Pier is an important access point to the Choptank River, a NOAA Habitat Focus Area. In 2014 – 2015, up to 350 mini bay-sized reef balls were deployed between the Bill Burton Fishing Pier and the Route 50 highway bridge. These reef balls were pre-set with oyster spat and deployed in a way to enhance fishing opportunities at the pier. Unfortunately, after the deployment of the reef balls, no efforts have been made to inform pier anglers and other users that the reef balls exist. This project is being led by Coastal Conservation Association Maryland and is comprised of a four-part outreach and education effort that uses signage, a live streaming web camera, multiple reef ball activities, and the production of a video, all of which will be in both Spanish and English to educate stakeholders on the important restoration work right under the pier.
Images and text provided by CCA Maryland.