It’s a bit like planting some nitrogen-fixing snap beans in your garden.
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Shiva Torabian joins the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Department of Wildlife Resources to plant mussels, a variety called alewife floaters, in a stretch of the South Anna River in Hanover County on Thursday. The mussels remove nitrogen from the bay, enrich the river, provide food for wildlife and keep the water clear.
Iseley Woods, Nico Martinez Fletcher and David Frazer join the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Department of Wildlife Resources to plant freshwater mussels, which are considered one of the most endangered groups of animals.
Joe Wood of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation plants mussels, a variety called alewife floaters. The mussels help keep the water clear, which matters to fish including shad, alewife, blueback herring and striped bass.
David Frazer holds a handful of mussels, some with trackers, to be planted by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Department of Wildlife Resources in a stretch of the South Anna River. The freshwater breed — alewife floaters — depend on fish to reproduce.
Photos: Bringing mussels back to sections of the South Anna River
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and DWR plant mussels, a variety called alewife floaters, in a stretch of the South Anna River in Hanover County on Thursday, June 4, 2026.
A volunteer with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and DWR plants mussels, a variety called alewife floaters, in a stretch of the South Anna River in Hanover County on Thursday, June 4, 2026.
Randolph Macon College environmental studies professor Charles Gowan joins the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and DWR to plant mussels, a variety called alewife floaters, in a stretch of the South Anna River in Hanover County on Thursday, June 4, 2026.
Iseley Woods, Nico Martinez Fletcher and David Frazer join the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Department of Wildlife Resources to plant freshwater mussels, which are considered one of the most endangered groups of animals.
Joe Wood of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation plants mussels, a variety called alewife floaters. The mussels help keep the water clear, which matters to fish including shad, alewife, blueback herring and striped bass.
David Frazer holds a handful of mussels, some with trackers, to be planted by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Department of Wildlife Resources in a stretch of the South Anna River. The freshwater breed — alewife floaters — depend on fish to reproduce.
Shiva Torabian joins the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Department of Wildlife Resources to plant mussels, a variety called alewife floaters, in a stretch of the South Anna River in Hanover County on Thursday. The mussels remove nitrogen from the bay, enrich the river, provide food for wildlife and keep the water clear.
Dave Ress (804) 649-6948
