2017 Press Releases

Water Quality in Chesapeake Bay Approaches Record High

The Chesapeake Bay Program released today the groundbreaking results of the first comprehensive survey of stewardship actions and attitudes in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

In a report released today, the Chesapeake Bay Program encouraged the jurisdictions that manage the Bay’s blue crab fisheries to maintain a risk-averse approach as they set regulations in 2017.

The Chesapeake Bay Program is pleased to announce that in 2016, our partners opened 24 boat ramps, fishing piers and other sites that grant the public access to creeks, streams and rivers in the region.

In 2016, an estimated 97,433 acres of underwater grasses were mapped in the Chesapeake Bay: the highest amount ever recorded by the Virginia Institute of Marine Science.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Chesapeake Bay Office, along with the Chesapeake Bay Program (CBP), released reports today outlining the progress made by Maryland and Virginia in recent years to increase significant acreage of oyster reefs.

The Chesapeake Bay Program is taking steps to make its partnership better reflect the population of the 64,000 square mile watershed that it represents.

Today, the Chesapeake Bay Program released its annual report on the environmental health and restoration of the Chesapeake Bay watershed.