I support HB 1525 for oysters

Friday, March 12, 2010

Several bills have already been submitted to this year's General Assembly in Annapolis concerning oysters, and some of them are designed to allow an increase to the catch by commercial watermen.

On Tuesday, House Bill 1525 was introduced that would do just the opposite.

The oyster population out there in the Chesapeake Bay is said to be not more than one percent of historic levels. Oysters filter the bay's water and their natural bars or colonies provide much needed habitat for a wide range of other aquatic species.

Would the sensible person want more oysters living out there or less?

Before you answer that, consider too that the harvesting of oysters provides income to watermen and there is undeniably a trickle-down effect to people who shuck them, package them and market them.

Plus, Chesapeake Bay watermen are very much a part of Maryland's history and certainly a tradition and industry that can enhance life around here in a positive way.

Maryland's Department of Natural Resources has been trying to help restore the oyster population for many years.

They've spent millions of dollars to do just that. Or, have they?

For sure, our DNR has used up lots of money and seeded many areas of the bay with countless baby oysters. DNR even pays the watermen to sometimes dredge over the oyster bars in an effort to keep them clean.

But, have DNR's past policies really achieved anything if today's oyster population is but one percent of the historic average? It's even been argued that the dredging of oyster bars in reality does more harm than good to those oysters down there along with their oyster bar homes.

Some people are making the argument that DNR has effectively done absolutely nothing to restore the oysters in the bay, but rather all they've managed to accomplish is artificially propping up the remaining, and continually diminishing, oyster industry.

The figures being offered show that DNR spends over $100 for each bushel of oysters watermen now catch that can be sold for about $30 a bushel at the dock.

My dad managed a shoe store, and when I was a kid, I remember him having this big argument with his boss over selling stuff at a loss.

"If we sell enough of it, we'll make a profit," his boss said.

My dad couldn't understand that kind of thinking. And I guess his genes still flow in my bloodstream, for today I can't fathom why we've been spending so much money on oysters for such little gain.

I also don't understand the argument that we ought to open up our oyster sanctuaries for commercial harvest to save the remaining oysters.

Yes, the bay is polluted and there are certainly diseases out there that can kill oysters. However, taking the very last native bivalve to sell instead of leaving it alone to filter more of that dirty water and maybe, just maybe, grow bigger with some disease-resistance it can pass along to its offspring makes far more sense to me.

It's also not helping the watermen's case when we read, almost weekly, about some commercial fishermen poaching oysters or rockfish, mutilating rockfish so they can't be measured, dredging oysters from areas where that isn't allowed and hiding their catch in secret compartments of their boats.

Just this week, our Natural Resources Police reported they charged eight Rock Hall men for serious fishing violations and seized 16,500 yards of illegally anchored gill nets and took away 3,200 pounds of prohibited rockfish.

Are the fishing violation penalties these watermen face looked at as just part of the cost of doing business?

Doesn't anyone care about leaving something behind for future generations?

I support HB 1525, which would finally be a management plan that might result in some long-term sustainability of oysters. It would establish oyster sanctuaries that cover at least 50 percent of the available oyster habitat in the Chesapeake Bay, and prohibit the commercial taking of oysters until the management plan and sanctuaries are established.

However, this bill also specifically allows for the continued development and harvest of oysters through aquaculture activities.

We have some serious problems out there in the Chesapeake Bay, and it's high time we did more than put a little Band-Aid on the gaping wounds that require major surgery.

Midwinter waterfowl survey

The horrible winter of 2009-2010 very likely was a major contributing factor to lower counts in this year's annual midwinter waterfowl survey.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service along with multiple state agencies have been conducting these assessments annually since the early 1950s to gauge long-term population trends of important waterfowl species.

This winter, here along Maryland's portion of the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic coast, a total of 787,100 various ducks, divers, geese and dabblers were counted, which was down from 836,900 the previous year.

Extensive ice coverage was noted by the observers and cited as a main reason for the lower counts.

Heavy ice in places like the Chester River discouraged diving ducks from using that water as a major wintering area which is also favored by canvasbacks and scaup.

The mallard count this winter was 34,200, down from 58,300 the year before. The total 2009-2010 duck population was estimated at 173,700 down from 261,000 counted in the 2008-2009 survey. However, Canada geese numbers were up this winter to 519,500 from 498,200 the year before.

Fishing update

The yellow perch at Allen's Fresh in Charles County seem to be on the move. I've heard reports now of some fishermen catching them two at a time from a well-known area around there known as "The Cedars."

Many were the larger roe-laden females. Surprisingly, quite a few white perch have also been hooked in the same area.

It's quite likely some of these perch will be moving up into the guts by the time you read this.

Andy Andrzejewski with the Reel Bass Adventure guides (301-932-1509) tells me his pros are having "fair success" for Potomac River bass, while fishing Mann's Sting Ray grubs, blade baits, spoons or small jig and craw combo's when they're working over the main river and creek ledges that are out of the direct current or when conditions really slow at each end of the tide.

They're also finding willing crappie in bays and coves in water 6- to 12-feet deep.

Andrzejewski also reports yellow perch action picking up with most of the good size perch still in 9- to 12-feet depths. He also says there is pretty good catch and release striper action around the warm water discharge at Morgantown.

Down at Lake Anna, High Point Marina is reporting stripers now scattered all over the lake but some of the big bass are starting to fatten up for the upcoming spawn. If you have access to the private side of Anna, a number of citation walleye are being caught now close to the discharge.

zbasser@aol.com