Oyster prices drop again

Colburn ponders tax on cheaperout-of-state oystersPosted: Wednesday, November 24, 2010.

By KELLEY L. ALLEN Staff Writer | 0 comments

DEAL ISLAND Oyster prices fell again Monday and could drop again next week as out-of-state oysters flood the market, which could prompt legislation to level the playing field.

Watermen across the Chesapeake Bay went on a three-day strike last week after buyers dropped the price of oysters from $40 to $35 per bushel. The strike ended Thursday after buyers agreed not to cut prices again before the holidays.But the price again dropped Monday, and could drop more next week.

Danny Webster, a Deal Island waterman since 1977, said he negotiated with Harbor House of Seaford, Del., one of the largest packing houses that buys from local watermen.

“They said they didn’t think they would drop prices and I took that to mean before Thanksgiving,” he said. “I assumed, and you know what that stands for.”

Mark Bryan, co-owner of Harbor House, could not be reached Monday or Tuesday. But a buyer for Harris Seafood in Grasonville said Tuesday they paid $38 per bushel that day.

Brent Haddaway of Easton, a third-generation waterman who took to the water as soon as he could crawl on a boat, said the strike didn’t do a bit of good and cost him $1,400.

“We went back last Thursday and they cut them again,” he said. “If they get much cheaper, we’ll have to quit.”

Buyers say the watermen need to compete; watermen say they can’t. Gov. Martin O’Malley’s oyster restoration plan increased sanctuaries from 9 to 25 percent of the remaining good oyster bottom, which meant about a 5,000-acre reduction in harvest area, according to the Talbot County Watermen’s Association.

Watermen are squeezed into smaller areas, mainly around Deal Island, have costs of about $100 per day, and struggle to catch their limit of 12 bushels before 3 p.m., the state-mandated quitting time.

But it’s the out-of-state oysters, Haddaway said, that are messing up the market. Oysters from Texas, the Carolinas and Virginia are as cheap as $20 per bushel.

“They’re small, they’re young and they’re poor and nobody wants them, but they flood the market,” Haddaway said. “They buy cheap oysters and the state lets them put them in a Maryland can and it really puts us to where we don’t make enough money to make it worthwhile to go to work.”

Some say it only takes three oysters per can for a Maryland label, others say it’s 10 percent. Officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Maryland Department of Agriculture and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources did not immediately have the labeling requirements Tuesday.

Haddaway said the state could fix the problem by taxing oysters coming into Maryland to bring those costs in line with that of Bay oysters.

“Make them as high as ours, its a simple fix and a money maker for the state,” he said.

State Sen. Richard Colburn, R-37-Mid-Shore, said Monday he intends to consider legislation in the 2011 session to do just that. He plans to talk with both buyers and watermen about a tax that would make prices identical or higher than that of local oysters.

In the meantime, local watermen anticipate more price reductions and say catches will drop 50 percent in the upcoming month. And although what the watermen get paid per bushel drops, the price for consumers is fairly stable and offers a heavy profit, particularly on the western shore, where oysters can fetch $150 per bushel.

“There’s nothing we can do,” said Webster. “Oysters are not like last year, then with the market prices, its a double whammy. It’s frustrating.”

New oyster rules hit snag in South River | View Clip
11/19/2010
Capital – Online, The

Applicant files for lease in normally off-limits area

Published 11/19/10

Almost as soon as new oyster regulations went into place, state regulators found a problem that’s sending them back to the drawing board.

Pamela Wood – The Capital Waterman George Luongo says he has documentation to show he harvested oysters from two public bars in the South River – including one called Hillsmere East or Hill Point East – that nearly were leased to a private individual. The state Department of Natural Resources has acknowledged the error.

An individual sought a lease to grow oysters on the South River and the process went as far as an on-the-water survey. But that part of the river is supposed to be off-limits to leasing because it is used by watermen as a “public fishery” area.

Seeing the surveyor out on the water earlier this month had watermen like George Luongo livid.

“This is the only two-mile stretch we can work,” Luongo said, as he piloted his workboat along the lower half of the river earlier this month. Stakes from the surveyor were still in place on the Hillsmere and Thunder & Lighting oyster bars.

Under an oyster management plan that went into effect this fall, the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers were designated into one of three categories: sanctuary, public fishery and private leasing.

The plan’s goals included expanding the no-harvest sanctuaries and encouraging more people to lease bottom areas for raising and selling oysters.

Mike Naylor, the top oyster official at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, said the new plan was designed to make sure that public fishery areas where watermen work are not leased out. Leases can only be executed on areas where watermen don’t harvest.

In the case of the South River, Naylor acknowledged his department made a mistake. The area in question had been planted with seed oysters paid for by watermen’s license surcharge fees in recent years, and it’s been worked actively.

“We are not going to take an area that had plantings of seed paid for with industry funding,” Naylor said.

His staff is working with the lease applicant – the first applicant under the new rules – to find another spot in the South River or elsewhere.

Naylor said the South River has some “weird areas” where there’s been harvesting and planting going on, but the areas aren’t marked as active bars on the maps that were used to write the new management plan.

He pointed out that the bay is vast and there’s a potential for mistakes.

Naylor said his staff will revise the regulations to “clean up some of these overlooked spots.”

The watermen, though, remain miffed.

Luongo wonders if the lease would have been signed if watermen hadn’t been working the day the surveyor was on the water.

Luongo wants to see the DNR mark the entire lower half of the South River as off-limits to new leases, to preserve one of the last areas on the Western Shore where watermen can use hand tongs, which are rake-like devices for scooping up oysters. He acknowledges that’s not likely, though.

John Orme, another waterman, said this incident represents another reason why watermen don’t trust the state.

“This is a perfect example of them not living up to their word,” he said.

New oyster rules hit snag in South River | View Clip
11/19/2010
Capital – Online, The 

Published 11/19/10

Almost as soon as new oyster regulations went into place, state regulators found a problem that’s sending them back to the drawing board.

Pamela Wood – The Capital Waterman George Luongo says he has documentation to show he harvested oysters from two public bars in the South River – including one called Hillsmere East or Hill Point East – that nearly were leased to a private individual. The state Department of Natural Resources has acknowledged the error.

An individual sought a lease to grow oysters on the South River and the process went as far as an on-the-water survey. But that part of the river is supposed to be off-limits to leasing because it is used by watermen as a “public fishery” area.

Seeing the surveyor out on the water earlier this month had watermen like George Luongo livid.

“This is the only two-mile stretch we can work,” Luongo said, as he piloted his workboat along the lower half of the river earlier this month. Stakes from the surveyor were still in place on the Hillsmere and Thunder & Lighting oyster bars.

Under an oyster management plan that went into effect this fall, the waters of the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers were designated into one of three categories: sanctuary, public fishery and private leasing.

The plan’s goals included expanding the no-harvest sanctuaries and encouraging more people to lease bottom areas for raising and selling oysters.

Mike Naylor, the top oyster official at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, said the new plan was designed to make sure that public fishery areas where watermen work are not leased out. Leases can only be executed on areas where watermen don’t harvest.

In the case of the South River, Naylor acknowledged his department made a mistake. The area in question had been planted with seed oysters paid for by watermen’s license surcharge fees in recent years, and it’s been worked actively.

“We are not going to take an area that had plantings of seed paid for with industry funding,” Naylor said.

His staff is working with the lease applicant – the first applicant under the new rules – to find another spot in the South River or elsewhere.

Naylor said the South River has some “weird areas” where there’s been harvesting and planting going on, but the areas aren’t marked as active bars on the maps that were used to write the new management plan.

He pointed out that the bay is vast and there’s a potential for mistakes.

Naylor said his staff will revise the regulations to “clean up some of these overlooked spots.”

The watermen, though, remain miffed.

Luongo wonders if the lease would have been signed if watermen hadn’t been working the day the surveyor was on the water.

Luongo wants to see the DNR mark the entire lower half of the South River as off-limits to new leases, to preserve one of the last areas on the Western Shore where watermen can use hand tongs, which are rake-like devices for scooping up oysters. He acknowledges that’s not likely, though.

John Orme, another waterman, said this incident represents another reason why watermen don’t trust the state.

“This is a perfect example of them not living up to their word,” he said.

To watch news cast from wjz on watermens protest click link below

watermen protest wjz news cast

Watermen stay ashore to protest oyster prices

PHOTO BY ERIN FLUHARTY Workboats remain in their slips at Dogwood Harbor in Tilghman on Tuesday afternoon as watermen stayed home for work to protest lower oyster prices.

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Posted: Wednesday, November 17, 2010 12:00 am | Updated: 6:27 am, Wed Nov 17, 2010.

By KELLEY L. ALLEN Staff Writer | 0 comments

In a rare show of solidarity, watermen across the Bay stopped working, hoping to get the big packing houses to take notice. But many watermen realize the move is likely futile.

“We don’t think it will change,” said Danny Webster, a Deal Island waterman since 1977. “I never agree with a strike because nothing’s ever gained … but if the guys all do it, I’m for it.

“There used to be a saying that you couldn’t get five watermen to agree on what the tide is doing now, the watermen are trying to stick together.”

Webster estimated that 95 percent of the Bay’s watermen from Smith Island to Tilghman Island stayed in Tuesday, except for skipjacks and two or three workboats.

Guy Spurry, a St. Michaels waterman, stayed home Tuesday, hoping a strike would at least hold the price as it is. But Spurry said strikes seldom work and the watermen did it at a bad time.

“They’re talking even cheaper yet,” he said. “It won’t work if they can get oysters somewhere else.”

Spurry’s father, Joe Spurry, a buyer who owns Chesapeake Landing near St. Michaels, said oysters from Texas, the Carolinas, the Gulf Coast and from Virginia are plentiful and are driving down the price, which started too high.

“It should never have gotten to $40 in October because they were poor,” said Joe Spurry, who worked the water for 25 years before becoming a buyer. “I didn’t want to listen to it when I was a waterman, I wanted to get all I can for a product. But it’s not just a local market you have to compete. The price needed to go down, it got too high off the bat.

“It’s just the way it is there’s nothing you can do about the market. If you want to sell your product you have to compete. My customers like me but not enough to pay seven or eight times more.”

Spurry told his son and other watermen now is not a good time to strike. Most of the Thanksgiving orders are filled, and the two-week period after the holiday is traditionally slow.

“It’s not a good situation,” he said. “I told them again today they better get back to work, prices will likely go down five more dollars. I hope it doesn’t, but it’s looking that way.”

Mark Bryan, co-owner of Harbor House Seafood in Seaford, Del., one of the largest, out-of-state packing houses that buy from local watermen, said prices had to go down because other states have a lot of oysters. And those oysters are cheaper.

“We’d rather support local guys but when they don’t work we have to get them somewhere,” said Bryan, a former commercial waterman from Maryland’s Eastern Shore who lives in Secretary. “We want to keep supporting them but we lose market share because other companies are selling cheaper. We’re not trying to hurt them, we’re trying to maintain.”

And Bryan said the watermen are on strike because of more than just prices.

“It’s tough on these guys,” he said. “Farmers get subsidies but watermen get nothing. The watermen have to make theirs when it’s time to make it and compete like a farmer.”

The government helps farmers, Bryan said, but hinders watermen with regulations. In neighboring states like Virginia, where state officials opened ground previously closed for about 20 years, the state supports the industry. But that’s not the case in Maryland, he said.

“The state chose not to support these guys,” Bryan said. “In 10 years, we’ll say watermen and skipjacks were here at one time but we don’t have them anymore. It’s really sad.”

As for the strike, like other watermen, Bryan does not think it will make a difference.

“It’s a shame, but it doesn’t,” he said. “There are oysters everywhere. These guys are really losing a lot of money.”

Webster said the watermen don’t have much, and want all they can get with the little they have.

“It’s frustrating,” he said. “The DNR positioned the watermen in one little area, and the oysters aren’t like last year. Then we get the market prices it’s a double whammy.”

Updated: // Nov 09, 2010 7:11 AM EST

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Watermen fear new rule will hurt oyster harvest

PHOTO BY ERIN FLUHARTY Alvin Richardson harvests oysters near Bozman.

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Posted: Monday, November 8, 2010 12:00 am | Updated: 7:13 am, Mon Nov 8, 2010.

By NICOLE DAO Capital News Service | 0 comments

DEAL ISLAND J.R. Gross, a veteran waterman, will drive two hours today from his home to his boat in St. Jerome Creek to begin harvesting oysters off the shores of Southern Maryland.

Gross, a resident of Shady Side, said he is forced to make the drive because new oyster sanctuary restrictions limit him from harvesting at his usual oyster bars along the Calvert and Anne Arundel shorelines. A fourth-generation waterman, Gross said he expects his yield to be much lower this year because of new regulations that force him to locations that are more crowded with other fishermen.

“There’s a lot of bottom I can’t work now that I could’ve worked last year,” Gross said.

The new sanctuaries are part of Gov. Martin O’Malley’s Oyster Restoration and Aquaculture Development Plan, a program to preserve the dwindling oyster population, which has remained at 1 percent of historic levels since 1994.

However, restoration efforts will inevitably have an effect on this year’s harvest. The state Department of Natural Resources estimated that watermen’s harvest will decrease by about 10 percent, a drop that will have a tremendous effect on their income.

“It’s tough for me to make a living because if I lose three oyster bars I used to work on, I lose three weeks worth of work,” Gross said. “That difference means making it through the winter or not.”

To enforce the new regulations, the state’s Department of Natural Resources Police has begun patrolling sanctuaries more often and ticketing violators.

“Whenever you have a commercialization of any resource, there is a temptation to break the law to make more money,” said Sgt. Art Windemuth, an NRP spokesman.

However, only a small percentage of watermen disobey the laws. Windemuth said the majority of watermen harvest legally.

“There’s one or two bad apples out there, and in any industry, you’re going to have a small percentage break the law and it makes it look like we’re all thieves, and we’re not,” Gross said.

There were 187 oyster violations issued in 2009. Numbers have not been compiled for 2010.

Windemuth hopes increased penalties and immediate license suspension measures will deter watermen from breaking the law.

To avoid costly penalties and to make money, the Department of Natural Resources hopes watermen will take advantage of aquaculture, a system of commercially producing aquatic life.

Tom O’Connell, director of fisheries at the Department of Natural Resources, said aquaculture could help to create 225 jobs in the next few years, benefit the local economy and help the oyster population.

“This industry won’t return to what it once was, but we want to make it better than it is today,” O’Connell said.

While there are only a few active aquaculture businesses in Maryland, 16 new applications for leases have been filed this season, O’Connell said.

In October, the state launched the Shellfish Aquaculture Loan Program, which gives $2.2 million in subsidized loans to provide watermen with affordable financing to launch or expand their aquaculture business.

However, many oystermen are not pleased with the new program.

Like many other watermen, Gross said he has no plans to start an aquaculture business because it is not as profitable as traditional harvesting.

“You can’t blame a man for trying to make some money,” said Gross, in regards to the new applicants. “But there’s nobody in the aquaculture business right now. The more people that get into it, the more cutthroat competition will be.”

Gross, who has tried growing oysters before, said aquaculture is not as profitable and that O’Malley and his administration should focus on ways to improve water quality first.

“If (aquaculture) was a lucrative business, we would be doing it, but because the water quality is so bad, we can’t grow them,” Gross said.

Bunky Chance, a fellow waterman who has been harvesting oysters for 30 years, said aquaculture would also put more of a financial burden on watermen who can’t afford to take that kind of risk.

“With aquaculture, the state can regulate and collect fees from us,” Chance said. “What they’re overlooking is the fact that no one is going to invest that amount of money towards aquaculture.”

An initial investment in aquaculture can cost a waterman up to $15,000 per acre, Chance said, while waterman who traditionally harvest can make up to $50,000 in the winter.

However, it is not all about business for many watermen. Gross agrees that oyster restoration is important, but says sanctuaries are not the best method.

“I don’t believe the sanctuaries do any good because we got some natural oyster bars that haven’t been harvested for 20 years, and they haven’t come back,” Gross said. “If we thought the sanctuaries would bring the bars back, we would want it to work, but they haven’t proven themselves yet.”

Chance believes power dredging, a mechanical method of scraping the bottom of the Bay, will help the oyster population more than the sanctuaries because it helps to create a cleaner surface for oyster larvae to grow on.

“They need to start looking to the watermen (for solutions), but they’re not going to do that,” Gross said.

Gross also agrees with Chance about power dredging, but he emphasizes the importance of improving the Bay’s water quality.

“Fix the water quality, and the Bay will come back,” Gross said.

For more information about oyster sanctuaries, go to: http://www.dnr.state.md.us/fisheries/oysters/eco_resto/sanctuaries.asp

Watermen rush to aid colleague

Workboat’s hull punctured, dozens come to help

PHOTO BY GAIL DEAN At the P.L. Jones Boatyard in Fishing Creek, Paul Jones works to repair the hull of the workboat, Amy, after it almost sank Tuesday morning about three miles out in the Chesapeake Bay from Hoopers Island.

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Posted: Wednesday, November 10, 2010 12:00 am | Updated: 7:13 am, Wed Nov 10, 2010.

By GAIL DEAN Dorchester Editor | 0 comments

The watermen were among those on board around two dozen workboats responding to a call for help heard over marine radios around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday, after the 42-foot workboat, Amy, began taking on water about three miles offshore in Chesapeake Bay.

“They came from everywhere,” Larry “Boo” Powley, captain of the Amy, said of what he estimates were 25 to 30 workboats that came to rescue him, his crew of four, his dog and the Amy itself.

Just around sunrise Tuesday, Powley, sons Aaron and Edgar Powley and R.C. Schuyler and Daniel Mastronardi were working to pull in menhaden from a pound net set about three miles out in Chesapeake Bay, near the edge of the shipping channel, when the wind and waves pounded the workboat into one of the pound net’s poles, which had broken off near the waterline.

The broken pole punched two four-inch holes into the hull of the fiberglas-covered wooden boat and Bay water began pouring in.

When the accident occurred, Aaron and Edgar Powley were working inside the pound net, in the skiff used to funnel fish into one corner of the net. When things go as they should, that part of the net is then hoisted up so the fish can be dumped into the workboat.

Powley had to leave his sons in the skiff behind and race for shallower waters near Barren Island, where he ran the Amy aground to keep the boat from sinking.

By then the call for help had already been broadcast over the marine radio and workboats began arriving “from all over,” Powley said, to offer a hand. Some had already headed back to the island, obtained pumps from a variety of sources, including local fire companies and Phil Jones’ boatyard, to help Powley keep his boat afloat.

More than a dozen watermen came onboard the Amy with five-gallon buckets to help bail out the workboat, which had some two feet of water sloshing around on deck at one point.

Once the Amy seemed stable, two workboats used lines to tow the crippled boat into the boatyard, with pumps and bailing watermen all working frantically to keep it from sinking along the way.

At the boatyard, they were met by emergency responders from the Hoopers Island, Madison, Lakes & Straits (from Wingate) and Church Creek volunteer fire companies and Dorchester Emergency Medical Services. With the Bay’s water temperature around 56 degrees, several people were treated for the beginning stages of hypothermia, according to those at the scene. There were reports one person was taken to the hospital for treatment of a cut.

By early Tuesday afternoon, the Amy was up on the railway and repairs were underway. Paul Jones was in the process of repairing the spot in the hull where the broken pole had punched two holes. Up on deck, Powley and others worked on other repairs, with hopes of getting back to fishing in a day or two.

Powley said the efforts of his fellow watermen was especially appreciated, considering that according to Maryland blue crab regulations, “They only had two days left to crab.” Nov. 10 is the last day Maryland watermen are allowed to harvest female crabs, which make up most of the catch in crab pots at the this time of year in this part of the Chesapeake.

By the time most of the crab potters had finished helping Powley save his boat, it was nearly noon too late to head back to crab pots, with a 2 p.m. daily deadline for when fishing must stop.

His brother, Bubby Powley, made a call to the Maryland Department of Natural Resources office in Annapolis to see if the season for female crabs could be extended a day to make up for Tuesday’s lost day for those who came to his brother’s assistance.

“They told me there was nothing they could do,” he said

Watermen are frustratedby DNR oyster decision

 Posted: Friday, September 24, 2010

By KELLEY L. ALLEN Staff Writer

EASTON Maryland Watermen Association President Larry Simns said Wednesday he is still negotiating oyster sanctuaries with the Department of Natural Resources.

Gov. Martin O’Malley’s oyster restoration plan became effective Sept. 6 and increased sanctuaries from 9 to 25 percent of the remaining good oyster bottom. Watermen have tried to negotiate the oyster sanctuary boundaries, but last week DNR Sec. John Griffin rejected their final sanctuary proposal.

Department officials said the watermen did not offer comparable bottom for a trade; oystermen said they know where the oysters are and did offer comparable bottom. The problem, Simns said, is that the DNR’s figures are not good. Catch figures, for instance, reflect the area where oysters are sold, not caught.

“The best science available might not be worth a damn but that’s what they use,” Simns said.

Talbot County Watermen’s Association President Bunky Chance said the industry has never considered DNR’s data accurate, but would work off those figures if the watermen had them.

“Areas they call non-productive, we make a good living at,” he said. “Also areas they call productive, we haven’t caught anything in 10 years. It’s frustrating. To come back and say we didn’t give up productive bottom we did. We were trying to give up a Cadillac to get a Chevrolet.”

These decisions, Chance said, are the death knell of the watermen’s livelihood.

“In the end, they took 90 percent of the value of what we had,” Chance said. “It’s true they only took 24 percent volume but they took the best. As they stand, the regulations, there will be watermen put out of business. Plain and simple.”

Watermen support sanctuaries, but have not supported the plan. The reason, Simns said, is because DNR officials put the plan together behind closed doors.

“They knew once it was on paper it would be hard for us to erase any of it,” he said. “They had the laws printed up in August … before any regulations came out they had the boundary lines in the log book. We knew it wasn’t going to change.”

Department officials have routinely said they held 150 public meetings and have modified the original proposal.

“But they had those (meetings) after they presented the proposal,” Simns said. “If you look at their proposal and what it is now, there is damn little bit of changes in it.”

Those public meetings, he said, did not do any good for the watermen.

But Simns is not ready to give up.

“We’ve still got a chance to work something up,” he said. “I never give up. I negotiate and negotiate until the world comes to an end. I’m still talking with John trying to get him to ease off some of this. It ain’t over until the fat lady sings.”

As for Chance, he said the next step as far as sanctuaries are concerned is to elect Bob Ehrlich as governor.

“We sat and talked with him,” Chance said. “His DNR they were receptive to our points of view. The current administration said it knows better than we do. To me that’s nothing but audacity and contempt for the view of the working men.”

Ehrlich spokesman Andy Barth said the former governor, who will face O’Malley in November, wants to keep watermen in business.

“We feel the watermen have been ignored and marginalized under O’Malley,” Barth said. “Under Ehrlich they have a seat at the table and could get a hearing. We absolutely want to listen.”

Simns said Ehrlich, if elected, could put in emergency regulations to help the watermen, but he can’t count on that.

“We’re probably stuck with the same administration and we’ve got to try and work with him,” he said. “I’m still trying to get as much as I can back for the watermen and I’ll keep doing that until the day I die.”

If anything does change, Simns does not think it will happen before the Nov. 2 general election.

DNR rejects oyster plans

Says watermen’s proposals didn’t meet agency’s criteria 

Posted: Tuesday, September 21, 2010 

Watermen Compromise Denied

EASTON, Md.- A compromise between watermen and the Department of Natural Resources over oyster sanctuaries cannot be agreed upon.

Earlier this month DNR asked watermen from all the Eastern Shore counties to give up productive areas where oysters can be found and in return watermen would get back some of the areas they wanted to work on. Watermen submitted their proposals and learned Friday every county’s proposal had been denied.

“It’s trying to make the best of a bad situation is what it boils down to,” said Bunky Chance, a waterman in Talbot County.

Joseph Gill, the deputy secretary at DNR, says what the watermen proposed would not have helped in the recovery of the oyster population.

“What we did find was none of the counties were able to meet the criteria we had set out individually,” said Gill.

The battle over sanctuaries stems from Governor Martin O’Malley’s Oyster Restoration Plan. Oyster sanctuaries, which are areas off limits to watermen, were increased from 9 to 24% on September 6th. The state says this is being done to help boost the oyster population.

While many watermen agree with the sanctuaries, they don’t like the state’s approach. Watermen say DNR is taking the most productive oyster areas, leaving them with little to make a living on.

 AND THE STORY BEGINS !!!!!!!

Watermen face deadline for oyster sanctuary consensus

Watermen from Talbot County discuss oyster harvest areas during an emergency meeting Monday evening at the Talbot County Community Center. 

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Posted: Thursday, September 2, 2010 

By KELLEY L. ALLEN Staff Writer | 0 comments  

EASTON Commercial watermen have asked state officials to consider their proposed oyster sanctuary boundaries and have asked for a fourth power dredge test site. 

Gov. Martin O’Malley’s oyster restoration plan includes an increase in the state’s sanctuaries from 9 to 25 percent of the remaining good oyster bottom. Watermen have opposed that proposal because it takes bottom they rejuvenated and work. After unsuccessful attempts at compromising with watermen on sanctuary lines, Department of Natural Resources Secretary John Griffin agreed to consider changes if the watermen could reach a consensus.

“We are offering the commercial oyster industry one last opportunity to propose changes that meet the sanctuary objectives of the regulations, do not impact watermen in other counties, are based on industry consensus, and honor the supportive comments of many other stakeholders,” Griffin wrote in an Aug. 26 letter to Larry Simns, president of the Maryland Watermen’s Association, and Gilbert Dean, president of the Chesapeake Bay Fishermen’s Association. 

Griffin gave the watermen a deadline of Sept. 2 for a consensus proposal, which left a week for the counties to reach an agreement. 

Some counties, like Talbot and Queen Anne’s, share water, which made compromise difficult. But at an emergency meeting Monday night, the chairmen of the state’s 11 county oyster committees reached an agreement. 

On Tuesday, two days before the deadline, Talbot County Watermen’s Association President Bunky Chance sent the industry’s proposal to DNR. The cover letter of that proposal read: 

“While we as an industry do not agree with the sanctuary restrictions and limitations that have been placed upon us … we do agree with the sanctuary concept. In an effort to reach a common ground compromise with the DNR, we offer the following good faith sanctuary boundary lines for the consideration of the DNR. 

“We as an industry have made many, many concessions regarding the sanctuaries. It is our hope that the DNR would seriously consider the few issues and concerns that we as an industry believe are important. 

“These proposals would help us to preserve our livelihood and our heritage as well as to contribute to the overall health and well-being of the Chesapeake Bay oyster population.” 

The chairmen also asked for a fourth power dredge test site in Eastern Bay in addition to the three approved sites in Talbot, Dorchester and Kent counties. 

“If approved we will work together with DNR to specify exact bars and acreage,” the watermen wrote. 

Simns wrote a letter to Griffin dated Aug. 28 that emphasized that the proposals have a consensus approval of the affected counties. 

“The men worked hard on this effort,” Simns wrote. “I believe what they are sending you is a good compromise. … At the end of the day, the state is experimenting with sanctuaries and we are experimenting with dredging. Together, perhaps, we will show everyone that the final proposal is a good one for the state, the watermen and the oysters.” 

O’Malley’s proposal becomes effective Sept. 6, and Griffin said the department will review and have a decision by Sept. 14. The department can make changes by emergency regulation if the watermen’s proposal traded equal bottom, had consensus of all the counties affected, and came in before the deadline. 

DNR starts taking applications for submerged land leases

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The department started accepting leasing applications Tuesday, with a $300 application fee for submerged leases and an $150 fee for aquaculture enterprise zone leases. An additional $100 application fee goes to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which must also OK a leasing application.

Start-up costs for an acre on-bottom can run between $10,000 and $15,000, with off-bottom costing about $25,000, said Stephen R. McHenry, executive director of Maryland Agricultural and Resource-Based Industry Development Corporation, or MARBIDCO, which the DNR may use to administer financial assistance. DNR has planned a one-time, $1 million investment for the industry and could start awards this fall.

DNR officials will review applications on a first-come, first-served basis, a process officials say will take at least four months per application. The review will include a survey of the proposed lease area, and advertisement to adjacent land owners.

Once approved, yearly leases run $3.50 per acre for submerged lands leased from the state. Existing aquaculture leases within oyster sanctuaries will be allowed under certain conditions.

More information and applications are available online at dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries/news/story.asp?story_id=88.

Watermen, individuals, organizations or businesses can apply for leases, and can attend a training conference on aquaculture leasing in Annapolis scheduled for Nov. 9 and 10. More information is available through Don Webster, University of Maryland, 410-827-8056 or dwebsterumd.edu.

State officials say aquaculture is the predominant means of shellfish harvesting around the world, including in Virginia, where it is a multi-million dollar business.

In Maryland, O’Malley’s aquaculture plan could generate $25 million and 225 jobs in the next several years, according to scientists with the University of Maryland.

Another key component of the plan expanded sanctuaries could change before the upcoming oyster season. Local watermen submitted their proposed sanctuary boundaries last week. If the DNR accepts their proposals, officials would make changes through emergency regulation.

DNR officials will have a decision Sept. 14

Bunky Chance responce letter to the editor

After reading last weeks article (9/2) on the new Dnr oyster sanctuaries and leased bottom “opportunities” we at the TCWA hope that one of the DNR’s primary goals is now obvious to the public. Many of these sanctuaries that were thought to be off limits to watermen so that DNR Sanctuaries the oyster population can rebound, will now be open for public leasing. “Watermen can apply,” says the DNR. They further explain that start up costs between $10,000 and $15,000 per acre. What they have not made public is that it takes many acres

and many years of investment to realize a profit. This “sanctuary bottom”

Is bottom that watermen have traditionally harvested from for generations and have hundreds of thousands of oyster tax dollars and license fees invested in. Watermen have put back shell and planted these areas from the seed-shell program with their own money for decades. This bottom is currently productive. Thanks in Large part to the conservation and management effects of Maryland watermen. In fact it is a large part of out most productive bottom. Should these areas be off limits to local watermen so that big money aquaculture companies can gobble them up? Our position is that there is room for sanctuarys, aquaculture, and watermen on the Chesapeake Bay. Don’t push us out for big business.

Bunky Chance,

President

Talbot County Watermen’s Assoc.Watermen, who support the idea of sanctuaries, but not the state’s specific plan, held an emergency meeting Aug. 30 to reach a consensus on a sanctuary proposal. DNR Secretary John Griffin, in a letter dated Aug. 26, agreed to consider a consensus set of changes if submitted by Sept. 2. In that letter, Griffin said the department would review the proposal and make a final decision by Sept. 14.

Two days before the Sept. 2 deadline, Talbot County Watermen’s Association President Bunky Chance submitted the commercial oyster industry’s proposal to DNR. On Tuesday, Sept. 14 the day Griffin said the department would have a decision, Chance said DNR officials told him a decision would come at the end of the week.

DNR spokesman Josh Davidson on Wednesday said the department is still reviewing the proposal and should have an answer Friday. But Chance doubts that will happen.

“I’d be surprised if we had an answer before the start of the oyster season,” he said.

Davidson said DNR officials have started placing the buoys that designate sanctuaries, but those are easily moved if things change. If the department does change its sanctuaries, it will do so through emergency regulation.

The decision that could come this week marks the last stop for the watermen, who have fought the proposal from its inception. According to the proposal sent to the department, watermen agree with sanctuaries but not with the restrictions and limitations from the governor’s plan.

That plan, watermen say, will destroy their livelihood. And, according to the industry, there is no proof that sanctuaries restore oysters on a large scale.

In addition to the sanctuary boundaries proposed, the watermen also asked for a fourth power dredge test site in Eastern Bay. The department approved three sites, one eachin Talbot, Dorchester and Kentcounties.

After reading last weeks article (9/2) on the new Dnr oyster sanctuaries and leased bottom “opportunities” we at the TCWA hope that one of the DNR’s primary goals is now obvious to the public. Many of these sanctuaries that were thought to be off limits to watermen so that DNR Sanctuaries the oyster population can rebound, will now be open for public leasing. “Watermen can apply,” says the DNR. They further explain that start up costs between $10,000 and $15,000 per acre. What they have not made public is that it takes many acres

and many years of investment to realize a profit. This “sanctuary bottom”

Is bottom that watermen have traditionally harvested from for generations and have hundreds of thousands of oyster tax dollars and license fees invested in. Watermen have put back shell and planted these areas from the seed-shell program with their own money for decades. This bottom is currently productive. Thanks in Large part to the conservation and management effects of Maryland watermen. In fact it is a large part of out most productive bottom. Should these areas be off limits to local watermen so that big money aquaculture companies can gobble them up? Our position is that there is room for sanctuarys, aquaculture, and watermen on the Chesapeake Bay. Don’t push us out for big business.

Bunky Chance,

President

Talbot County Watermen’s Assoc.

Now today’s artical in the star dem

State still weighing watermen’s oyster plan

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Watermen, who support the idea of sanctuaries, but not the state’s specific plan, held an emergency meeting Aug. 30 to reach a consensus on a sanctuary proposal. DNR Secretary John Griffin, in a letter dated Aug. 26, agreed to consider a consensus set of changes if submitted by Sept. 2. In that letter, Griffin said the department would review the proposal and make a final decision by Sept. 14.

Two days before the Sept. 2 deadline, Talbot County Watermen’s Association President Bunky Chance submitted the commercial oyster industry’s proposal to DNR. On Tuesday, Sept. 14 the day Griffin said the department would have a decision, Chance said DNR officials told him a decision would come at the end of the week.

DNR spokesman Josh Davidson on Wednesday said the department is still reviewing the proposal and should have an answer Friday. But Chance doubts that will happen.

“I’d be surprised if we had an answer before the start of the oyster season,” he said.

Davidson said DNR officials have started placing the buoys that designate sanctuaries, but those are easily moved if things change. If the department does change its sanctuaries, it will do so through emergency regulation.

The decision that could come this week marks the last stop for the watermen, who have fought the proposal from its inception. According to the proposal sent to the department, watermen agree with sanctuaries but not with the restrictions and limitations from the governor’s plan.

That plan, watermen say, will destroy their livelihood. And, according to the industry, there is no proof that sanctuaries restore oysters on a large scale.

In addition to the sanctuary boundaries proposed, the watermen also asked for a fourth power dredge test site in Eastern Bay. The department approved three sites, one eachin Talbot, Dorchester and Kentcounties.

 Watermen face deadline for Oyster sanctuary consensus
  By KELLEY L. ALLEN Staff Writer | 0 comments  
EASTON Commercial watermen have asked state officials to consider their proposed oyster sanctuary boundaries and have asked for a fourth power dredge test site. 
Gov. Martin O’Malley’s oyster restoration plan includes an increase in the state’s sanctuaries from 9 to 25 percent of the remaining good oyster bottom. Watermen have opposed that proposal because it takes bottom they rejuvenated and work.   “We are offering the commercial oyster industry one last opportunity to propose changes that meet the sanctuary objectives of the regulations, do not impact watermen in other counties, are based on industry consensus, and honor the supportive comments of many other stakeholders,” Griffin wrote in an Aug. 26 letter to Larry Simns, president of the Maryland Watermen’s Association, and Gilbert Dean, president of the Chesapeake Bay Fishermen’s Association. 
Griffin gave the watermen a deadline of Sept. 2 for a consensus proposal, which left a week for the counties to reach an agreement. 
Some counties, like Talbot and Queen Anne’s, share water, which made compromise difficult. But at an emergency meeting Monday night, the chairmen of the state’s 11 county oyster committees reached an agreement. 
On Tuesday, two days before the deadline, Talbot County Watermen’s Association President Bunky Chance sent the industry’s proposal to DNR. The cover letter of that proposal read: 
“While we as an industry do not agree with the sanctuary restrictions and limitations that have been placed upon us … we do agree with the sanctuary concept. In an effort to reach a common ground compromise with the DNR, we offer the following good faith sanctuary boundary lines for the consideration of the DNR. 
“We as an industry have made many, many concessions regarding the sanctuaries. It is our hope that the DNR would seriously consider the few issues and concerns that we as an industry believe are important. 
“These proposals would help us to preserve our livelihood and our heritage as well as to contribute to the overall health and well-being of the Chesapeake Bay oyster population.” 
The chairmen also asked for a fourth power dredge test site in Eastern Bay in addition to the three approved sites in Talbot, Dorchester and Kent counties. 
“If approved we will work together with DNR to specify exact bars and acreage,” the watermen wrote. 
Simns wrote a letter to Griffin dated Aug. 28 that emphasized that the proposals have a consensus approval of the affected counties. 
“The men worked hard on this effort,” Simns wrote. “I believe what they are sending you is a good compromise. … At the end of the day, the state is experimenting with sanctuaries and we are experimenting with dredging. Together, perhaps, we will show everyone that the final proposal is a good one for the state, the watermen and the oysters.” 
O’Malley’s proposal becomes effective Sept. 6, and Griffin said the department will review and have a decision by Sept. 14. The department can make changes by emergency regulation if the watermen’s proposal traded equal bottom, had consensus of all the counties affected, and came in before the deadline.    

Harris talks to Talbot watermen

 Tuesday, July 20, 2010
By KELLEY L. ALLEN Staff Writer

Harris urged the watermen to continue their fight, said Talbot County Watermens Association Treasurer Lisa Gowe. That fight has included opposition to the proposal that many say will put them out of business.
State officials have scheduled four public hearings on the regulations, including one at 6 p.m. Aug. 5 in Wye Mills at the Chesapeake College Todd Performing Arts Center. Department of Natural Resources staff will be available from 5 p.m. until 6 p.m. for questions.
The proposal (and sanctuary maps) is available online at www.dnr.maryland.gov/fisheries.
Gov. Martin O’Malley on May 21 submitted regulations to the General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Administrative, Executive and Legislative Review to expand oyster sanctuaries from 9 to 25 percent of the Chesapeake Bay’s remaining quality habitat. The regulations also would identify 600,000 acres open to leasing for oyster aquaculture as well as identify areas off-limits to leasing.
If approved, those regulations would become effective Sept. 6.
The regulations are aimed at helping to increase the oyster population, which has dropped to one percent of historic levels. In the past 25 years, according to state officials, habitat has declined 80 percent, harvest has declined 90 percent and harvesters have declined 75 percent.
Initially, state officials said those regulations would reduce the public oyster fishery by 10 to 15 percent, but later reduced that to seven percent.
That number is subject to change as harvest data comes in from last season.
The current wild oyster fishery has an estimated total dockside economic value of $3 million.
In addition to the hearings, comments also may be submitted by e-mail to fisheriespubliccomment dnr.state.md.us or by mail to:MD-DNR Fisheries Service, Oyster Recovery, Tawes State Office Bldg 580 Taylor Ave. B-2, Annapolis, MD 21401.
Also at the meeting, officials announced the results of the June 21 Talbot County Oyster Committee results, which are:
• Patent Tong Mark Connolly, John Norman Gowe, Alvin Richardson, III, Guy Spurry, and Troy Miller.
• Power Dredge James B. Haddaway, Mark Connolly, John Norman Gowe, Alvin Richardson, III, and Guy Spurry.
• Hand Tong Robert Hambleton, and Herman Jeff Harrison
• Diver Vacant.
More information is also available at www.talbotwatermen.com.

Hundreds attend Ehrlich fundraiser

Watermen, farmers feel O’Malley has excluded them 

PHOTO BY ERIN FLUHARTY Bob Ehrlich spoke Sunday afternoon during a fundraiser hosted by the Watermen of the Chesapeake at Sailwinds Park. Nearly 1,400 people attended the fundraiser to enjoy fresh seafood, drinks and an auction.    Monday, June 14, 2010 

   By KELLEY L. ALLEN Staff Writer

CAMBRIDGE More than 1,200 supporters gathered Sunday at Governors Hall at Sailwinds Park in Cambridge to show support for former governor Bob Ehrlich, who promised to bring back a partnership between watermen and politicians. The Watermen of the Chesapeake hosted the fundraiser for the man who brought the crowd to its feet when he took the podium. In return, Ehrlich asked first watermen, then farmers, to stand as he thanked them for what they do. ”We need more friends in the legislature and more people to understand what you do,” Ehrlich told the crowd. “We want to be partners, you don’t want to be demonized or marginalized. I promise you we will bring back that partnership you enjoyed with us in the previous administration.” Many watermen and farmers said they appreciate the partnership they had with Ehrlich during his tenure as Maryland’s 60th governor, from 2003 until 2007. That partnership is a sharp contrast to what many describe as exclusion from proposals Gov. Martin O’Malley has made that some say threaten the livelihood of watermen. Melvin Hickman, a lifelong Democrat, comes from a family of watermen and plans to vote against his party for Ehrlich. ”I didn’t like what O’Malley is doing,” he said. “What O’Malley is doing will do away with that way of life.” O’Malley’s push to nearly triple the size of oyster sanctuaries, along with crab season regulations, has angered many watermen. It has also pushed them into action and fostered an impressive showing of solidarity. State Sen. Richard Colburn, R-37-Mid-Shore, whose father worked the water, said he has never seen watermen this motivated. ”The sanctuaries (proposal) broke the camel’s back,” he said. “Trying to push them off the Bay really motivated them.” Bunky Chance, president of the Talbot County Watermen’s Association, said the watermen came Sunday to show support for the man they say supports them. ”He has been sensitive to the needs of small businessmen, and watermen are essentially small businessmen,” Chance said. “Ehrlich is willing to work together. We hadno voice with the O’Malley administration. All we asked for is a seatat the table.” Ehrlich said that, if elected, he would revisit the sanctuary issue. ”Sometimes policymakers view watermen and farmers as the enemy,” he said. “I’ve rejected that. I want to sustain this way of life.” Larry Simns, president of the Maryland Watermens Association, said Ehrlich’s administration included the watermen in the decision-making process. ”He understood their plight,” Simns said. “He worked to make it better for them.” Ehrlich fought for watermen in Congress, he said, and wants them, and their children, to be successful. ”Talk is cheap,” he said. “They know there was action. They were heard. ”These folks here want to be heard. They are part of the solution they’re not part of the problem.” Sunday’s fundraiser included 114 bushels of local crabs, corn, mussels and clams, and piles of fixings. Charlie Evans, policy director and head of Eastern Shore fundraising for Ehrlich, said final tallies on the money raised would not be finished until Wednesday. He also said there is a fundraiser in Easton scheduled for Aug. 28 

The Banner 06/11/2010, Page A01

Watermen argue bay legislation is aimed at wrong group

Bill would make boaters, marinas comply with new regulations

Boaters can choose from three types of Marine Sanitation Devices. Type I uses chemicals to break down the sewage and reduce the bacterial count to below 1,000 per 100 milliters with no solid waste discharged; Type II breaks down the raw sewage to a greater degree with a bacter ia count under 200 per 100 milliters; Type III uses a holding tank with waste pumped directly into a sewage system operated on land. Chemical toilets use a minimum amount of chemicals that break down the waste product stored for dockside discharge. Maryland marinas with over 50 slips must have sewage disposal facilities. One marina owner says half-jokingly,  When the creeks are deemed polluted, polluted from geese, the Coast Guard will stop boaters and look at their heads (marine toilets). He believes the government picks on sectors that cannot do anything about laws made by the regulatory agencies.

One sector that does have power to make changes without laws, regulations, or oversight is the city or town dweller hooked up to city or municipal sewer lines. By not dumping grease, oil or fats down the drain, many major sewage backups can be prevented. The EPA recommends putting such waste products in cans for disposal. And, important to those in every walk of life who wish to do something to help restore the Bay but chafe at what seem unreasonable and arbitrary restrictions, making this small but helpful lifestyle change is voluntary.
Editor’s Note: Read more about sewage spill issues and the bay in the continuation of this story in Next Friday’s edition of The Banner.
“If we spill ten gallons of diesel fuel in the Bay we get thousands of dollars in fines and have Hazmat and everybody else crawling all over us… because you can see the fuel. Where is the EPA in all of this? Where is the Maryland Department of the Environment? Where is the Critical Area Commission?
Where is anybody?”
~ Larry Simns, President , Maryland Waterman’s Association