Maryland Public Television is proud to present another chapter in our on-going effort to help support and preserve one of the nation’s most significant bodies of water. Host Frank Sesno* once again drives a compelling conversation in this one-hour forum, this time focusing on the eastern oyster, once abundant in the Chesapeake Bay. Now its population is greatly diminished due to disease, habitat loss, and years of overharvesting.

Oysters, with their ability to filter fifty gallons of water in a single day, are an essential component in restoring the health of the Chesapeake Bay. Activists and researchers have struggled for years to revive the bay-wide population of Crassostrea Virginica after it crashed in the 1960s, and now they are beginning to succeed.

The Chesapeake Bay Summit 2020 assembles experts on oyster restoration and leaders in the region’s aquaculture industry to discuss the plans and policies in place to counteract the decline of this iconic bivalve. The discussion will focus on what’s working—and what isn’t— as well as what it all means for the overall health and ultimately the future of the Chesapeake Bay.