Home** Our Work **What We Do** Chesapeake Bay Watershed Region Freshwater Mussel Partnership 

## Chesapeake Bay Watershed Region Freshwater Mussel Partnership

The Chesapeake Bay Watershed Region Freshwater Mussel Partnership is a voluntary affiliationof stakeholders drawn by our interest in freshwater mussels to:
          - Advance and promote Conservation & Restoration; and,
          - Evaluate Water Quality best management practices (BMPs) to lessen excess nutrients and sediment in tributaries to the Bay.

Interest in freshwater mussels throughout the Chesapeake Bay Watershed is growing andfor good reasons, such as:
          - Freshwater mussels are among North America’s and the Bay Region’s most endangered groupof organisms
          - Freshwater mussels have unique life strategies linked to individual fish species 
          - Much likebenthic macroinvertebrates,freshwater mussels are indicators of existing water quality conditions in a stream
          - As they feed, freshwater mussels transfer suspended matter from the water column to the stream bed
          - Freshwater mussels are ecosystem engineers, capable of modifying aquatic habitat to makeconditions more suitable for themselves and other organisms

*Sampling for freshwater mussels in Codorus Creek*
*Sampling for freshwater mussels in Susquehanna River below Conowingo Dam*

#### News & Announcements

Anacostia River Festival on May 4, 2024May 3, 2024

National Fish & Wildlife Foundation is accepting proposals to the Central Appalachia Habitat Stewardship Program (applications due: Thursday July 18)May 3, 2024

Bay Journal: Have mussels, will travel: New mobile lab gives bivalves a liftApril 15, 2024

#### Meetings & Events Calendar

###### Partnership Steering Committee Meeting 2024 Schedule:

**4th Friday of every month**
8-9 am (invitation only)

#### Resources

Freshwater Mussel Publications (link to Google sheet) 

----

#### Archives

**December 2023 Partnership Meeting**
Meeting Summary

----

**May 2023 Partnership Meeting**
Presentation SlidesVirtual Meeting: Chesapeake Bay Watershed Region Freshwater Mussel Partnership SummaryMeeting Video (YouTube)

----

Workshop to Broaden and Enhance Regional Freshwater Mussel Partnerships in the Chesapeake BayApril 13, 2022

Mussels as Natural Filters CommitteeFebruary 28, 2023

Mussels Biodiversity Conservation CommitteeFebruary 14, 2023

Incorporating Freshwater Mussels into the Chesapeake Bay Restoration EffortsMarch 5-6, 2020

##### Get Involved!

**Connect with the Partnership**

Benefits include: join our mailing list and stay informed aboutPartnership initiatives, support an Action Team, meet andnetwork with colleagues, attend our annual Symposium

## Thank You

Thank you for expressing interest in joining the **Chesapeake Bay Watershed Region Freshwater Mussel Partnership**. We will contact you with additional information.

#### About Us

The Chesapeake Bay Watershed Region Freshwater Mussel Partnership evolved mainly from theChesapeake Bay Program’s Science & Technical Advisory Committee workshop (March 5-6, 2020):Incorporating Freshwater Mussels into the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Efforts and theNational Fish & Wildlife Foundationand state of Maryland’s workshop (April 13, 2022): Broaden andEnhance Regional Freshwater Mussel Partnerships in the Chesapeake Bay.

In 2023, staff from theSusquehanna River Basin Commissiontransitioned to the role of coordinators for the Regional FreshwaterMussel Partnership. As coordinators, SRBC staff: facilitate communication amongthe Partnership members, Action Teams, and Steering Committees and with pertinentelements of the Chesapeake Bay Program; schedule Partnership Steering Committeemeetings; coordinate an Annual Symposium; and manage resources and informationfor this web page.

#### Contact

For more information or questions, please email:
        - Jamie Shallenberger ( [email protected] )
        - Ellyn Campbell ( [email protected] )
        - Tyler Shenk ( [email protected] )

Monitoring & Protection ProgramSusquehanna River Basin Commission4423 North Front Street, Harrisburg, PA 17110717-238-0423 X 1115

#### Partners

For more information about Freshwater Mussels visit our Partnership organizations' websites:

Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control

Department of Energy & Environment

Maryland Department of Natural Resources

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation

Partnership for the Delaware Estuary

Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission

U.S. Geological Survey

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources

West Virginia Division of Natural Resources