<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div class=""><b class="">FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE</b></div><div class=""><p class="Normal1"><o:p class=""></o:p></p>
<p class="Normal1"><o:p class=""> </o:p><b class="">Saturday, November
12, 2016</b></p><p class="Normal1"><o:p class=""></o:p></p>
<p class="Normal1"><o:p class=""> </o:p></p>
<p class="Normal1"><b class=""><i class="">For information contact:</i></b><o:p class=""></o:p></p>
<p class="Normal1">Lindsey B. Counsell, Exec. Dir. <o:p class=""></o:p></p>
<p class="Normal1"><a name="h.gjdgxs" class=""></a>Three Bays Preservation, Inc. <o:p class=""></o:p></p>
<p class="Normal1"><a href="http://www.3bays.org" class=""><span style="color: blue; text-decoration: none;" class="">www.3bays.org</span></a> <o:p class=""></o:p></p>
<p class="Normal1">508-420-0780 <o:p class=""></o:p></p>
<p class="Normal1"><a href="mailto:lcounsell@3bays.org" class=""><span style="color: blue;" class="">lcounsell@3bays.org</span></a> <o:p class=""></o:p></p>
<p class="Normal1" align="center" style="text-align:center"><o:p class=""> </o:p></p>
<p class="Normal1" align="center" style="text-align:center"><o:p class=""> </o:p></p>
<p class="Normal1" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b class=""><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class="">Three Bays Preservation, Inc., Puts Its Shellfish Program to
Bed for the Winter<o:p class=""></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="Normal1" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b class=""><span style="font-size: 14pt;" class=""> </span></b></p>
<p class="Normal1"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class=""><b class="">(Osterville,
Mass.) – </b>On a sunny, breezy morning in early November, volunteers
from the Barnstable Association for Recreational Shellfishing (BARS) helped
Three Bays Preservation Inc. sort living oysters from dead ones on a pebble-strewn
shore of North Bay.</span></p>
<p class="Normal1"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">This past spring, Three Bays Preservation Inc. had placed 200,000
oyster seeds in 400 plastic floating bags in nearby Middle Cove in North Bay. The
worst-ever algae bloom of Rust Tide in early August, caused by a common
saltwater organism called a dinoflagellate <i class="">(Cochlodinium
polykrikoides)</i> that turns salt water a murky red, depleted oxygen from the
water column where oysters were incubating in the suspended bags and killed
tens of thousands of them.</span></p>
<p class="Normal1"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">The intent of growing those oysters is to mitigate and reduce
critically high levels of nitrogen throughout North, West and Cotuit Bays since
a single adult oyster can filter 50 gallons of water a day. The numbers are
sobering: every day, nitrogen equal to sixty-six 50-pound bags of fertilizer
flows into the Three Bays Estuary. Excess nitrogen leaching from septic
systems, road runoff from lawn fertilizers, detergents from washing your car
and doing laundry, as well as other metals and hydrocarbons pour into an
overwhelmed marine environment. This means the nitrogen levels throughout the
1,251-acre estuary exceed critical limits established by the Massachusetts
Estuaries Project. But if enough oysters can be planted in the years ahead, it’s
hoped that eventually up to 20% of nitrogen can be filtered out just by
oysters.</span></p>
<p class="Normal1"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">Since the algae bloom, however, it’s fallen to Three Bays
and volunteers from BARS and students from Cape Cod Academy to hand-sort the
living from the dead. This work has been going on for weeks, one pair of hands
at a time. Bags are opened and gently dumped onto a makeshift plywood table
that sits near the shore of North Bay, and the sorting begins. Volunteers help
Three Bays staff sort and toss oysters into one of two stacks of large plastic crates:
orange for dead oysters the size of a
quarter, and blue for living oysters the dimension of a child’s fist.</span></p>
<p class="Normal1"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">“The surviving oysters are healthy and we’re very optimistic
about their chances,” explained Lindsey B. Counsell, executive director of
Three Bays Preservation Inc. “Just a few days ago after we finished sorting the
dead from alive ones, we had distributed thousands of surviving oysters into
the shallow waters of West Bay and North Bay,” he said, adding, “Three Bays is
very grateful for the hands-on help to cull the thousands of oysters.”</span></p>
<p class="Normal1"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">We’re here “just for the volunteering,” explained Fred
Dempsey of BARS, whose organization assists with “farming and fishing” initiatives
for good causes.</span></p>
<p class="Normal1" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">**<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Normal1"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">Three Bays Preservation, Inc. advocates for the restoration
and protection of West, North and Cotuit Bays, and the coves, ponds, rivers and
streams that form our watershed and ecosystems. Since 1996, Three Bays
Preservation, Inc., has continued stewardship efforts through applied science,
educational programs, and ecosystem-based management practices. To learn more,
visit Three Bays Preservation online at <a href="http://www.3bays.org" class=""><span style="color: blue;" class="">www.3bays.org</span></a>.<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Normal1"><o:p style="font-size: 14px;" class=""> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size: 14px;" class="">###<o:p class=""></o:p></span></p>
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<div class="">Theresa M. Barbo</div><div class="">Author/Journalist</div><div class="">Communications Consultant</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><a href="http://theresambarbo.com" class="">theresambarbo.com</a></div><div class="">Mobile: 774.263.4219</div>
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