What is the CBPA (Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act) and How Does it Affect Me?

So, what is the Chesapeake Bay preservation Act (CBPA)?  Chances are, if you know, it’s because you’ve already had to deal with it.  

A little background--the CBPA, or Bay Act, was initially enacted in 1988.  The Bay Act’s aim, in a broad sense, is to protect the water quality in the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.  The General Assembly designed the Act to enhance water quality while still allowing for reasonable economic development. 

As a member of the public trying to develop your property, you may see the Bay Act as a pain, but it is important to understand the reasoning behind this legislation.  The Chesapeake Bay is a national Treasure and it deserves to be protected.  It is the nation's largest estuary and one of the world's most productive.  The Bay is home to over 2,700 species and it drains 64,000 square miles of land Chesapeake Bay Watershed Map. 

The Lynnhaven River and its watershed drain into the Chesapeake Bay, and are subject to the Bay Act.  More than half (54%) of Virginia Beach's residents live in the Lynnhaven River's 64 square mile watershed. 

Because the Lynnhaven has such a dense residential population surrounding its waters, it is important for home and business owners to know how this legislation affects them. 

In 1991, the City of Virginia Beach adopted the Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act Ordinance, affecting all properties within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. This ordinance provides an outline of regulations that must be followed when developing within this protected area.  These regulations are often referred to as best management practices (BMPs), and are designed to improve water quality by protecting critical areas within the watershed.  

This ordinance separates protected land into two categories:

1. Resource Protection Areas (RPA)
2. Resource Management Areas (RMA)

RPAs are critical areas within the watershed.  They are usually adjacent to waterways, and are subjected to more regulations.  RMAs are adjacent to RPAs, extending landwards to the edge of the waterside, and are not as strictly regulated.

So, how do I know what this means to me exactly, as a property owner within the Lynnhaven River watershed? Here is a link the the City of Virginia Beach's homeowners guide to Chesapeake Bay resource protection areas-- Home Owner's Guide to Chesapeake Bay Resource Protection Areas

Any work or project to be done in the RPA must be approved by the city. You can submit at Preliminary Project Request (PPR) available here. 

Some basic guidelines:

• Nothing can be build in the RPA (with the exception of boat-docking structures and shoreline control structures)
• Vegetation removal from the RPA affects erosion and sediment control, and decreases functional filtering and habitat value of the wetland, and is not allowed. Exceptions are for dead or diseased trees. Removed vegetation must be replaced. (Again, everything must be approved by the City!)
• Prior to any addition to an existing structure in the RPA, an Encroachment Application must be submitted to the City.

If you are looking to develop and you are near or in an RPA area, you should also review the Guide to the Single Family Site Development Process for Sites Located in the Chesapeake Bay Resource Protection Area (RPA) 

 Compiled by Clint Boaz, Intern; Edited by Trista Imrich, Pearl Homes Coordinator, LRNow

The Mystery of Oyster Plots--How Can I Grow My Own Oysters and Whose Oysters are Those?

One of the most frequent questions we get in the office is can I grow and eat my own oysters, and who do those oysters out in the water belong to?

First and foremost, while water quality continues to improve in the Lynnhaven River, there is still only 42% that meets the standard for shellfish harvest.  This means that 1) It is never safe to randomly eat oysters from the water, but also 2) Most all of the oyster leases in the Lynnhaven are actively leased, even if the water quality is not yet up to par. It is considered poaching to take oysters from either someone else's lease, or from restoration reefs. Poaching is illegal.

Below is an updated map of what areas of the River are harvestable (everywhere not red, though the green areas are "conditional"). The full report is available here.

There are currently 5 aquaculture oyster growers operating off the Lynnhaven River:

• Ludford Brothers Oyster Company
• Lynnhaven Bay Aquaculture Oysters
• Lynnhaven Oyster Company
• Lynnhaven River Brand, LLC
• Lynnhaven River Oyster Company- 757-406-1861 

If you are interested in seeing what areas are currently leased (and who is leasing them), you can open the interactive version of the below map here. 

Sites owned by others that are available for sale can be viewed here. If you are a homeowner with shoreline property that is not already leased to someone else, you can apply to have your shoreline surveyed and set up as oyster grounds. An application for oyster leasing ground can be found here.

All other forms can be found here.

Per VMRC (http://www.mrc.virginia.gov/CRD/Oyster-Resource-User-Fees_07-01-13.shtm):

Oyster industry participants will pay an annual resource user fee.

This is required under a bill, House Bill 1400, which was passed unanimously in the 2013 Virginia General Assembly Session at the unanimous request of an 11-member industry panel that represented all facets of the industry.  The Panel's report can be found here.

The revenue collected from these annual user fees will be used for the Oyster Replenishment Program, as required by the new law. The industry panel that recommended the new law recognized the importance of oyster replenishment to the health of the entire oyster industry and considered the user fees to be an industry investment in its future.

The Oyster Replenishment Program provides many services for the industry. Oyster replenishment on public oyster grounds involves the spreading of oyster shells on state-owned water bottoms to provide habitat so naturally occurring larvae can attach to the shells during spawning and form new adult oysters that will reach market size in roughly three years.

The program also provides training and support for the growing oyster aquaculture industry, and monitors oyster populations throughout the Chesapeake Bay, its tributaries and the coastal bays of the Eastern Shore.

Every $1 spent on oyster replenishment yields $7 in economic benefits in the form of larger harvests, and increased jobs for oyster shuckers and oyster packing houses.

The bill establishes the following annual user fee schedule:

• Hand harvesters on public oyster grounds will pay a user fee of $50 a year if they only harvest by hand.

• Non-hand harvesting oyster gear users on public oyster grounds will pay a user fee of $300 a year. Only one gear user fee will be paid, regardless of how many different types of licensed oyster gear are used.

• Any commercial oyster aquaculture operation taking oysters from riparian, fee-simple or privately leased ground will pay a user fee of $50 a year (the oyster aquaculture product owner permittee Is responsible for the $50 user fee for private ground aquaculture operations that includes harvest). 

• Harvesters who work on both public and private ground will pay both the aquaculture and gear (or hand) harvest user fees each year.

• Oyster shucking and packing houses will pay a user fee ranging from $500 and $4,000 a year, depending on the size of their operation.

• Oyster buyers will pay a user fee of $100 for a single truck or location, and will pay $300 for buyers with multiple trucks or locations. Also, new oyster buyer licenses will be required. They are in addition to the long-issued seafood buyer licenses.

These user fees apply to anyone who harvests, attempts to harvest, or who participates in the harvest of oysters for commercial purposes, whether the gear license is in their name or not.

As always, all harvests must be reported to the agency.

For further information, contact VMRC- Jim Wesson (Jim.Wesson@mrc.virginia.gov; 757-247-2121) or Kathy Leonard (Kathy.Leonard@mrc.virginia.gov; 757-247-2120) or our Restoration Coordinator, Meredith Malone, at meredith@lrnow.org.
 Posted by Trista Imrich, Pearl Homes Coordinator, LRNow

Oyster Gardening

How does oyster gardening work?

As an oyster gardener, you will receive 1000 baby seed oysters this summer from Chesapeake Bay Foundation. When you receive them, each will be about the size of your thumbnail. You grow these oysters in a mesh bag in a Taylor Float in the Lynnhaven for one year. At the end of that year, each will be between one and three inches in length. Next summer, you will turn them in at an Oyster Roundup. They will be placed on conservation reefs in the Lynnhaven and you will receive a new batch of baby oysters for the coming year.  Click here for a quick video demonstration of the oyster gardening process.

How do I get started?

1. To get started, you will need a location where you will keep your oysters. That may be at your own dock if you are lucky enough to live on the water or you may ask a friend, neighbor or a marina if you can tie your float to their dock.  If you can not participate in oyster gardening yourself, but would like to offer your dock to someone else, please let us know.


2. Once you have a location secured, you should request an information packet about oyster gardening for restoration by contacting CBF's office or calling 757-622-1964. This packet includes general information about the Citizen Oyster Gardening program, the need for oyster restoration, the materials required, and a required State Registration Form. (If you are a teacher, contact Laurie Sorabella about Oyster Gardening workshops and opportunities for teachers, or call LRNow at 757-962-5398.)


3. Build your own Taylor Float or oyster flotation device, or order an assembled Taylor Float through the LRNow office (757-962-5398 or Taylor Floats). $110 to purchase a Taylor Float from LRNow. 


4. Register & attend a CBF New Citizen Oyster Gardener Workshop to learn about oyster gardening and pick up your new seed oysters. Register here. There is a suggested donation to CBF of $30 per 1,000 oysters.  2014 workshops will be in July and September.


5. ...Next summer you will turn in your one year old oysters at a Roundup and get your new baby oysters. Please contact our office if you have any questions. This past year, we had over 200 Oyster Gardeners in the Lynnhaven. Let’s see if we can increase that number even more this year!

CBF Oyster Round-Ups

If you have been raising oysters all year, you will return them to the sanctuary reefs and get a new batch of seed oysters next year.  Please plan to attend one of the 2014 Oyster Round-Ups in July or September. All those planning to attend a round-up should RSVP to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.

"It doesn't take a green thumb to be an oyster gardener!"

Posted by Trista Imrich, Pearl Homes Coordinator, LRNow