The Institute of Urban Aquaculture and Chesapeake Learning Center

Twelve thousand years ago the Susquehanna River carried water from melting glaciers in what is now New York south to the Atlantic Ocean. As the glaciers disappeared the seas rose and the Chesapeake Bay was born. The Bay now has nineteen principal rivers and 400 lesser creeks and streams, forming more than 4,600 miles of tidal shoreline.; In the 16th century European settlers discovered the bounty of the bay. People have been moving in ever since raising today's population to over ten million inhabitants living near the shores. Some use the tidewaters for fishing, hunting, crabbing, and recreation; others don't pay attention to the estuary but are none the less play a major role in the Chesapeake's ecosystem.; The diversity and health of the bay and its tributaries have been devastated by the hand and stomach of humankind. Large tracts of grassy shoreline have been turned into manicured, "monospecific gardens". In the water, great dead zones were formed from excess amounts of nutrient run-off from suburban lawns and farms and sediment from urban construction. The great ecological diversity of the country's largest estuary is in jeopardy.; The Institute of Urban Aquaculture and the Chesapeake Learning Center will explore ways to promote restoration and conservation of the Bay region. Through public education and demonstration the Institute will lead by example. The center's focus is on education, research, and restoration of the Chesapeake's great diversity of plants and animals. Ridgley's Cove will be a national example of how we can balance needs for development and our place in the ecosystem.