A crew of about a dozen biologists from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Frostburg State University and Marshall University spent an October afternoon searching for the Maryland darter, a fish that was last seen in 1988 and is feared to be extinct. Though their search proved unsuccessful, biologists are not giving up hope.
Related links: Fish | Streams and Rivers

Maryland will use $39.5 million in grants to help improve the health of local waterways that flow to the Chesapeake Bay by upgrading wastewater facilities and repairing a sewage system in three Bay watershed locations.
Related links: Wastewater Treatment

The number of young-of-the-year striped bass – fish that are less than one year old – found in the Maryland portion of the Chesapeake Bay in 2009 was up from last year but still a bit below average, according to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) 2009 Young-of-the-Year Striped Bass Survey.
Related links: Striped Bass

Maryland Senator Benjamin Cardin has introduced new legislation that would greatly expand federal resources, including funding, authority and enforcement tools, and set a legally binding deadline of 2025 for states to put all necessary measures into place to achieve a healthy, restored Chesapeake Bay.
Related links: Full text of Chesapeake Clean Water and Ecosystem Restoration Act of 2009

The state of Maryland planted nearly 750 million baby oysters – called oyster spat – in the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers in 2009, surpassing last year’s total of 600 million spat and marking a new record for the state’s oyster restoration program.
Related links: Oysters

Virginia has approved new stormwater rules that will help reduce polluted runoff – the fastest-growing source of pollution to the Chesapeake Bay – to the streams, creeks and rivers that feed the Bay.
Related links: Stormwater Runoff