Contact: Bess Gillelan FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(410) 267-5661 6/2/95
Gordon Helm
(301) 713-2370
Ground breaking ceremonies were held today for a greatly improved fisheries laboratory complex on Maryland's Eastern shore in Oxford, Md. When the lab renovation is completed, scientists will be better able to study oyster diseases, restore habitat, and protect marine mammals and sea turtles, announced the Department of Commerce's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"Updating and enlarging this laboratory is critical to our science and management roles in studying the Chesapeake Bay region," said Nancy Foster, deputy director of the National Marine Fisheries Service, an agency of NOAA. "This ground breaking ceremony demonstrates the true partnership between the fisheries service and the state of Maryland to address critical fisheries and habitat issues in the Chesapeake Bay region."
"The fisheries service is committed to strengthening our capabilities in the Chesapeake Bay," Foster added. "We began in 1992 by opening the NOAA Chesapeake Bay Office in Annapolis to serve as a focal point for all of NOAA's bay activities, and now, in partnership with the state, we are renovating and enlarging the Cooperative Oxford Laboratory."
The Oxford Laboratory construction project is a joint venture between the fisheries service and the state of Maryland and has received the enthusiastic support of Maryland's congressional delegation. Invited to attend the ceremony were Sens. Paul Sarbanes and Barbara Mikulski, Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, and Maryland Governor Parris Glendening.
The approximately $1.3 million project includes $750,000 of federal funds provided by the fisheries service. Maryland is providing additional funds and in-kind labor and design services that allow for both a new wing and much needed lab renovation.
The fisheries service will strengthen its efforts at the Oxford lab in three primary areas:
- Strengthening oyster disease research capabilities, a traditional function of NMFS scientists at the lab;
- Initiating a habitat restoration program, building on the scientific expertise of its new fisheries service parent, the Beaufort Laboratory in Beaufort, N.C., to support Bay area habitat restoration efforts; and
- Establishing the Oxford lab as a regional center for marine mammal and sea turtle strandings, providing enhanced technical support for state responsibilities in stranding response, rescue, and investigations.