Mechanical oyster dredging targeted

Friday, Feb. 9, 2007

Sportsmen’s organizations are advocating for the bill that would prohibit any means of mechanical dredging in a carefully defined area of the Chesapeake Bay watershed and Atlantic Ocean to ease environmental pressure on wildlife.

‘‘That kind of dredging can be very damning to that estuary, so these people are trying to limit the commercial harvesting in that area,” said Dyson (D-St. Mary’s, Calvert, Charles).

Dyson, who co-chairs the Joint Committee on the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area and is vice chairman of the Senate Education Health and Environmental Affairs Committee, said the bill will probably be passed out of his committee for consideration of the full chamber.

E-mail Alan Brody at abrody@somdnews.com.