Fundraiser dedicated to restoring the bay

Scallopalooza is a night of fun that also does a lot of good. This year’s event will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, June 9, at Sarasota Yacht Club. In this case, it’s not an all-you-can eat, but an all-you-can-raise fundraiser dedicated to restoring scallops in Sarasota Bay. There will be cocktails, dinner and entertainment. There will also be educational presentations and an auction.

“It is a not-to-be-missed event,” said Rusty Chinnis, president and founder of Sarasota Bay Watch.

Scallops are the next step in restoring Sarasota Bay. At one time, many scallops inhabited Sarasota Bay, but today, most have disappeared. Thanks to last year’s Scallopalooza, Sarasota Bay Watch and Sarasota Yacht Club raised enough funds to release millions of baby scallops into the bay. Last year’s sold-out event garnered $14,000, which allowed the release of 4 million scallop larvae into the bay in December.

“They have been finding baby scallops in the area where we released them,” Chinnis said.

This suggests that there is a possibility of real success for the multiyear effort for scallop restoration and repopulation. The hope is that, eventually, there will be enough distributed that they will repopulate on their own.

The event is limited to 250 people.

IF YOU GO
Scallopalooza
When: 6 p.m. June 9
Where: Sarasota Yacht Club, 1100 John Ringling Blvd.
Cost: $75 per ticket or $700 for a table of 10
Info: Call 953-5333 or 232-2363, and visit sarastoabaywatch.com for more information.