Sotterley Presents: People and Perspectives - "Oyster Aquaculture: Past, Present & Hopes for the Future" with Imani Black

Date/time: Wednesday 24 May 7pm
Event: Virtual Speaker Event
Location: Recording at Historic Sotterley, Hollywood MD
Individuals available for media interview:
• Nancy Easterling, Executive Director, Historic Sotterley

Historic Sotterley is welcoming Imani Black, Founder of Minorities in Aquaculture, for a virtual speaker event at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, May 24. Imani will discuss the rapid expansion of the seafood industry, the decrease in our natural seafood resources, and the opportunities presented by aquaculture to farm seafood, like oysters, in a sustainable way.

The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the nation and serves as a major economic resource in Maryland due to the seafood industry. The bay ecosystem is home to Eastern oysters, which are as hard working as they are delicious. Eastern oysters are filter feeders that remove excess algae and nutrients from the water and keep the bay healthy and clean. A history of intense oyster harvesting has negatively impacted their populations, and subsequently caused concern for both the health of the bay and the future of the seafood industry.

Aquaculture, or the sustainable farming of aquatic organisms, presents a solution to the problem. Instead of harvesting from the bay's wild populations, shellfish and other aquatic animals can be raised and harvested in separate, controlled conditions. This allows the wild populations to grow and thrive without interruption and continue their job keeping our waterways clean, while still supporting the seafood industry and access to safe, sustainable food sources.

As Historic Sotterley is built on a creek that feeds directly into the Patuxent River, we are committed to being good stewards of our waterways through best farming practices to mitigate our effect on the aquatic ecosystem. We have invited Imani Black to share her expertise on aquaculture because we believe sustainable practices are the only way forward and that her story might inspire others to invest in aquaculture.

The public is invited to this free event, but registration is required and can be found at Historic Sotterley's website at www.sotterley.org/events.

Historic Sotterley
44300 Sotterley Lane
Hollywood, MD 20636

News Release Contact
Kristina Kuss, Marketing Manager
(301) 373-2280 ext. 1123
marketing@sotterley.org

About Imani Black

Imani Black was born and raised on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in Chestertown. She has always had a passion for restoration and conservation since she was a young girl and found great interest in the rapidly growing shellfish aquaculture industry, after completing an aquaculture training program at Virginia Institute of Marine Science in 2016. Since then, Imani has worked on oyster farms, nurseries and hatcheries along the Eastern Shore of Virginia and Maryland. From 2018 to 2020, she was the Assistant Hatchery Manager for Hoopers Island Oyster Company, having the opportunity to work in all aspects of shellfish growout. Through her love for her career, Imani founded Minorities in Aquaculture, a nonprofit organization that strives to empower and support women of color in the aquaculture industry by educating women of traditional watermen legacy and heritage in coastal communities while providing opportunities such as paid internship, technical skills training, and career development resources in the new wave of commercial fisheries. In addition to developing the nonprofit, Imani is also pursuing a Master's degree at the University of Maryland's Center for Environmental Science researching the historical minority engagement in commercial fisheries in the Chesapeake Bay.

About Historic Sotterley

Historic Sotterley is a 300-year-old National Historic Landmark and a UNESCO Site of Memory for the Routes of Enslaved Peoples. With honesty and integrity, Sotterley embraces the responsibility of interpreting all aspects of our shared history while serving as an exceptional educational and cultural resource.

This release was published on openPR.