This directory links to a sampling of Chesapeake Bay-related groups. Descriptions are pulled from each group's mission statement or "about" page, mostly verbatim. They have been edited chiefly for brevity.
Calvert County Watermen’s Association
The Calvert County Watermen's Association was established in 1975 as a nonprofit organization. The goal of the Calvert County Watermen's Association is to improve water quality to ensure future harvest of seafood. The Association consists of local commercial watermen (full-time and part-time) who make their living harvesting seafood from local waterways.
Cherrystone Aqua Farms
Cherrystone Aqua-Farms is a division of Ballard Fish and Oyster Company, Inc., which has been in the shellfish business since 1895. President and general manager Michael Peirson holds a Ph.D. in Marine Biology from North Carolina State University. Dr. Peirson has built on the pioneering work of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science to develop a hatchery program that assures the consistent quality of Cherrystone Aqua-Farms littleneck clams.
Chesapeake Bay Power Boat Association
The Chesapeake Bay Power Boat Association is a Maryland-based group of boat owners who share in their love for the Chesapeake Bay waterways. The CBPBA holds many activities and events for the whole family, some of which promote causes. Membership includes powerboat owners with small runabouts to large yachts.
Delaware Farm Bureau
Delaware Farm Bureau is a group of approximately 4,300 farm families and associate members who help form a national organization that is more than six million strong. These families are united for the purpose of preserving agriculture as an industry and way of life.
Delmarva Low Impact Tourism Experiences
DLITE represents a union of Delaware, Maryland and Virginia businesses, conservation organizations, and local, state, and federal partners, which have formed an alliance to encourage nature- and heritage-based tourism and conservation on the Delmarva Peninsul
Delmarva Poultry Industry, Inc.
DPI is the nonprofit trade association working for the continued progress of the broiler chicken industry in Delaware, the Eastern Shore of Maryland, and the Eastern Shore of Virginia. In existence since 1948, DPI's members include nearly 1,400 farm families raising chickens, four poultry companies producing birds on Delmarva, and hundreds of poultry company employees, allied industry suppliers of products and services, and Delmarva-based, non-poultry businesses.
Eastern Shore Building Industry Association
The Eastern Shore Building Industry Association, a not-for-profit membership organization, represents builders as well as entities associated with and serving the building trade, in the Maryland Counties of Caroline, Queen Anne, Kent, Talbot, Dorchester, Wicomico, Worcester and Somerset.
Friends of the John Smith Chesapeake Trail
The Friends of the John Smith Chesapeake Trail is a regional environmental organization dedicated to conserving treasured landscapes, creating public access and promoting education and stewardship in the Chesapeake Bay and advancing the goals of the Captain John Smith Chesapeake National Historic Trail and other National Historic Trails in the Chesapeake region. More than 180 state and local government, citizen groups, and business partners, and thousands of individuals make up the partnership.
Home Builders Association of Maryland
The Home Builders Association of Maryland (HBAM), chartered by the National Association of Home Builders in 1943, is dedicated to serving the entire building and housing industry.
Home Builders Association of Virginia
The Home Builders Association of Virginia (HBAV) is a 6,400-member statewide organization of home builders and firms that provide products and services to the home building industry. HBAV dedicates approximately 60 percent of its annual resources to representing the home building industry before state lawmakers and state regulators.
Johnny Oyster Seed Company
Johnny Oyster Seed Company was founded to assist people and organizations in gardening oysters for personal use and/or restoration purposes. Established in 2006 near Broomes Island, Maryland, on the Patuxent River, the company creates a line of products that make it easier for people to help return oysters to the Chesapeake Bay.
Marine Trades Association of Maryland
The Marine Trades Association of Maryland, founded in 1972, is comprised of nearly 400 marine related businesses. It is a nonprofit trade organization dedicated to promoting the recreational marine industry and the preservation of the waterways.
Maryland Charter Boat Association
The Maryland Charter Boat Association is the largest group of professional charter boat captains on the Chesapeake Bay promoting sport fishing, sightseeing and cruising.
Maryland Farm Bureau
Maryland Farm Bureau is a private, nonprofit membership organization. It is completely controlled by its members through the democratic process and is financed by voluntary membership dues. Its strength comes from the active participation of over 30,620 member families that belong to the state’s 23 county Farm Bureaus.
Maryland Tourism Council
The Maryland Tourism Council is the statewide membership organization representing all private-sector segments of the hospitality and tourism industry emphasizing government affairs, business growth, professional development, and alliances with other tourism organizations, the business community, and state and local governments
Maryland Watermen’s Association
Founded in 1973, the MWA represents thousands of commercial fishermen. In any given year a waterman may harvest blue crabs in the summer months, oysters in the fall, striped bass and perch in the winter mouths, and may elect to catch either eels, catfish, yellow perch or soft shell calms in the spring and back to crabbing in the summer. Some watermen clam year round while others may crab and oyster. Some take out fishing parties in the summer and commercial fish in the winter or any combination of the fisheries.
National Aquarium in Baltimore
The National Aquarium Institute inspires people to enjoy, respect, and protect the aquatic world. Through pioneering science, conservation, and educational programming, the Aquarium confronts the pressing issues facing global aquatic habitats.
National Association of Home Builders
Founded in 1942, NAHB is a trade association that helps promote the policies that make housing a national priority
New York Farm Bureau
New York Farm Bureau is a non-governmental, volunteer organization financed and controlled by member families for the purpose of solving economic and public policy issues challenging the agricultural industr
Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture
Founded in 1992, PASA's consistent and driving vision has been to transform agriculture and food systems in Pennsylvania and beyond in a way that makes farmers more viable, improves the land and restores the health and well being of all citizens
Pennsylvania Builders Association
The Pennsylvania Builders Association is a non-profit statewide trade organization chartered in 1952. Affiliated with the National Association of Home Builders and a network of local associations throughout the state, PBA is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of representatives from its local affiliate
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau is a general farm organization made up of members providing legislative support, information and services to Pennsylvania's farmers and rural families since 1950.
The Choptank Oyster Company (aka Marinetics)
Marinetics, Inc., began as a commercial aquaculture company with a mission to produce a high quality oyster that is healthier for the consumer, while also helping to improve the health of the Chesapeake Bay. Now operating as The Choptank Oyster Company, it has grown into a thriving oyster farm that produces an average of 1 to 2 million oysters per year.
Tidewater Builders Association
Tidewater Builders Association represents more than 800 companies that serve the shelter industry in South Hampton Roads and the Eastern Shore of Virginia.
Virginia Charter Boat Association, Inc.
With more than 100 licensed captains, VCBA is a resource for choosing a charter fishing boat or fishing guide in Virginia.
Virginia Farm Bureau
With nearly 150,000 members in 88 county Farm Bureaus, the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation is Virginia’s largest farmers’ advocacy group. Virginia Farm Bureau is a non-governmental, nonpartisan, voluntary organization committed to protecting Virginia’s farms and ensuring a safe, fresh and locally grown food supply.
West Virginia Farm Bureau
Unlike most organizations, the membership governs Farm Bureau. Through a process called policy development, the grassroots membership establishes the direction of the organization. Because its policies aren’t set by a president or board, members have the opportunity to actively participate in setting the agenda for the organization.