Alex DeMetrick reports they’re fighting a bill they say threatens their way of life.
The oyster season is over in Maryland and watermen say it was another good year—but a bill called the Sustainable Oyster Harvest Act has them worried about the years to come.
“The commercial community is concerned that this bill starts us down the road to a moratorium,” said waterman Bunky Chance.
The Department
of Natural Resources surveys oyster bars and counts up the catch to gauge the bay’s oyster population. The bill calls for different measurements.“It usurps the power of the DNR and gives it to the University
of Maryland to do surveys of oyster bars and tell the watermen whether they can go to work on the oyster bars next year,” said waterman Russel Dize.More
3 comments:
Joe you should do a story on last nights council meeting about how ignorant and demanding some of those chicken farmer haters were. They seem to keep getting worse at every meeting. Those Concerned Citizens against CAFO's are very ignorant and think the county should change their way of life to suit theirs.
I would like to know that after expenses, taxes, etc. just how much does a "waterman" make each year? If you factor in those seasons and use a "normal" year (knowing there are better years and worse years) - how much per hour or how much per year do they make? Does anyone know? This is not to make a point its just to get information. I really never thought about how much they earn in that business. thanks.
Buy a boat and get a license. Go out on the water for a year or two and you will find out.
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