Posts Tagged ‘marine habitat’
Grocery chain contributes $5,000 to CCA Texas habitat program
HOUSTON, TX - San Antonio-based grocery chain H-E-B jumped in to 
support Texas marine conservation this week with a $5,000 contribution to the CCA Texas Habitat Today for Fish Tomorrow program (HTFT). The CCA Texas habitat initiative was launched in 2009 and has already set in motion a number of projects important to Texas recreational anglers, including construction of offshore artificial reefs and marsh restoration programs.
“We were very excited that our Austin chapter forged this relationship with H-E-B and are honored to have them as a partner in our efforts to enhance Texas’ marine habitat,” said Robby Byers, CCA Texas executive director. “Enhancing habitat is all about putting projects in the water where they will do the most good. The dollars that H-E-B has donated to our habitat program will help us create and restore more areas in our coastal waters that are essential for fish habitat. This is a great example of how companies like H-E-B can make a difference.”
H-E-B began 100 years ago in a tiny family shop in Kerrville, Texas, and today is one the nation’s largest independently owned food retailers with more than 300 stores and 75,000 employees in Texas and Mexico. The company has launched an extensive environmental campaign called Take Care of Texas to instill energy efficiency and conserve natural resources in every phase of its operations.
“We proudly support conservation groups, such as the Coastal Conservation Association, with a proven track record of conserving Texas’ marine resources,” Leslie Lockett, Director of Public Affairs.
“Each year the Austin chapter assesses which Texas companies might have interest in our cause, and H-E-B was an obvious choice as good stewards of our coastal resources,” said Scott McGuire, president of the CCA Texas Austin Chapter. “I am very excited about the relationship we have established with H-E-B and anticipate many more great things to come from it. They share the same concerns for Texas and the conservation of its coastal resources as we do at CCA.”
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CCA is the largest marine resource conservation group of its kind in the nation. With almost 100,000 members in 17 state chapters, CCA has been active in state, national and international fisheries management issues since 1977. For more information visit the CCA Newsroom at www.JoinCCA.org.
Tags: marine habitat, texas marine habitat
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CCA SC‘s habitat program has been in full swing throughout the winter season collecting oysters for recycling. The results of those winter efforts will soon be put to use with the beginning of the summer oyster reef restoration efforts. Last year, CCA SC volunteers and members participated in the construction of four oyster reefs up and down the coast of South Carolina. This year’s efforts will be more ambitious. “Watching this program develop and grow has been extremely exciting for CCA SC,” said Scott Whitaker, CCA SC executive director. “To have the volunteers come together and focus on habitat improvement and to see the support that continues to build from local communities and businesses for this effort is overwhelming.”
CCA SC is currently scheduling activities with the state Department of Natural Resources S.C.O.R.E. program revolving around bagging and preparing the oysters for distribution along the coast. Actual oyster reef projects will scheduled soon afterward. Visit the CCA SC website for dates, times, and locations of coming events.
Tags: marine habitat, oyster recycling
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During mid-December members of the Southwest Washington Chapter, working with the Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, participated in a series of nutrient enhancement events on the Washougal River. On Dec. 15, 23 volunteers from CCA Washington met at the Washougal River Salmon Hatchery to help spawn Coho salmon. On that date, more than 500 wild fish were passed above the hatchery to continue their upstream spawning migration, 300 pairs of Coho were spawned (offspring will be raised at the Washougal Hatchery) and 1,100 fish were held aside to be placed back into the watershed.
After their spawning cycle is complete, salmon naturally die and the nutrients from their flesh are a critical element to the survival of their offspring, not to mention a myriad of other plants, fish and wildlife. So on Dec. 19, more than 20 CCA Washington volunteers returned to the Washougal River, loaded up several hundred salmon carcasses and distributed them back into the Washougal River. Not only was it a fun couple of days but the chapter made positive steps in rebuilding our resource.
The chapter will be doing a follow-up event in early spring where thousands of frozen carcasses will be passed through a wood chipper to go back into the river.
Tags: fish flinging, marine habitat
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Raleigh-area residents will soon have 12 new places to deposit their used oyster shells and help the environment at the same time. The drop-off centers will be the most recent additions to a growing number of spots in North Carolina where the public can help reduce the landfill waste and restore oyster reefs by recycling oyster shells. Oyster shells collected through the program are placed back in North Carolina coastal waters to provide a place for baby oysters to attach and grow. For years, the state has used oyster shells in oyster rehabilitation programs, primarily purchasing the shells from oyster shucking operations. However, as demand for oyster shells has increased, so has the cost. The Oyster Shell Recycling Program started in the fall of 2003 to establish public places where people could donate their shells. The program has grown from collecting 711 bushels of oyster shells in 2003 to more than 32,000 bushels in 2007. More than 86,700 bushels have been collected since the program’s inception. CCA North Carolina’s Jim Hardin and Chris Elkins have been on the forefront of the Oyster Shell Recycling Program and each continues to volunteer his time picking up oyster shells at various sites across the state. CCA NC has also purchased a trailer in which Pitt County restaurants use to haul the oyster shells to each site.
Tags: marine habitat, north carolina oyster recycling, oyster recycling
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support Texas marine conservation this week with a $5,000 contribution to the CCA Texas Habitat Today for Fish Tomorrow program (HTFT). The CCA Texas habitat initiative was launched in 2009 and has already set in motion a number of projects important to Texas recreational anglers, including construction of offshore artificial reefs and marsh restoration programs.
