UMBI has several efforts aimed at protecting and preserving the environment. Currently, research is underway to breed and raise juvenile crabs and finfish in captivity until their release in the Chesapeake Bay. Currently, the cumulative number of juveniles blue crabs released since 2002 is over 300,000 making it the world's largest such study for any species of crab. UMBI scientists have also discovered a way that PCBs----toxic chemicals associated with liver disease and cancer---- can be removed from water by utilizing two different strains of bacteria. These bacteria use dechlorination as a reducing agent for their normal growth. Research of this kind may lead to biological-based solutions to problems with pollution that have, up to now, been intractable.