Piccirilli Group chosen to market oyster recovery effort

The Piccirilli Group (www.picgroup.com), a Bel Air based marketing and advertising firm, has been chosen by the Oyster Recovery Partnership to develop and coordinate a state public education program.  Piccirilli’s role will be to inform and involve people of all ages and backgrounds about the partnership and gain support for it through donations.

The Oyster Recovery Partnership is a coalition of 24 organizations, institutions, businesses and individuals helping restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay by restoring its oyster population. The 501 (c) (3) organization has implemented a cooperative oyster restoration effort among state and federal government agencies, scientists, watermen and conservation organization.

According to the organization’s Web site, www.oysterrecovery.org, oysters are critical to restoring the Bay. One mature oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day, removing nitrogen and phosphorus pollutants, increasing dissolved oxygen in the water and providing habitat for fish, blue crabs and other Bay creatures.

Since 2000 the Oyster Recovery Partnership has planted over one billion oysters on 60 large oyster bars, most of them permanently protected or managed. The partnership also has planted sea grasses essential to the healthy habitat for oysters and mitigating soil run-off into Bay waters.

In a news release about the program, Aaron Piccirilli, president of the Piccirilli Group, noted the health of the Bay’s oyster population affects everyone who lives, works or plays in the Chesapeake Bay watershed. “We are excited and honored to be part of the important work done by the Oyster Recovery Partnership,” he said. 

Piccirilli and the partnership anticipate launching the public education and marketing program this summer.

For more on the partnership or to make a donation, go to the organization’s Web Site.