Watermen are hardworking, God fearing Christians
Watermen are hardworking, God fearing Christians
As president of the Chesapeake Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Association, I have become increasingly angered and frustrated by the various news media leaving the general public with such a negative impression of the watermen community. There have been numerous stories involving illegal fishing activities both in print and even as specials on our local television shows.
Unfortunately, some of the facts are true, though at times misleading, and we as an industry are not proud of it. To combat such activity, our industry has supported increased fines and penalties for violators, requested additional funding through our legislators to support the efforts of the NRP and have worked with the Department of Natural Resources in implementing various regulations to limit the opportunity to participate in illegal fishing activities without penalizing the honest fisherman.
The untold version in most all of these news releases is the fact that the overwhelming majority of all commercial fishermen do not condone any form of illegal fishing activity. As a whole, we are hardworking, God fearing Christians who still say the Pledge of Allegiance, sing the national anthem and are not afraid to use the words “one nation under God” at most all of our public functions. We still embrace traditional values and are patriots of our country.
I will be the first to admit that certainly, we share some of the same problems as other industries, communities and professions, but please do not judge us as a group because of the actions of a few. For the most part, we are family men and women who take pride in our occupation, honor its tradition and cherish our heritage. We care as much or more about the health of the Chesapeake Bay than anyone else and want to see this treasure flourish through eternity for all to enjoy. We want our children to be brought up thinking that their parents were part of an honorable profession and to be proud of what they did for a living and not to be depicted as anything less.
Why doesn’t someone write a good article about our watermen sometime? Why doesn’t someone write an article about how you will never find another group of individuals, despite their differences, give one another the shirt off their backs, money out of their pockets and food off their tables to help someone in need?
This is why I am proud to be a part of, honored to represent and humbled by the friendship of our commercial watermen. Enough is enough.
GIBBY DEAN,
President, Chesapeake Bay Commercial Fishermen’s Association
