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Tuesday, December 20, 2016

National Aquarium Willing To Pull Canyon Designation Effort If Community Opposition Continues


OCEAN CITY — After backlash from local, state and federal leaders opposing the proposed designation of the Baltimore Canyon as an Urban National Marine Sanctuary, National Aquarium officials late last week responded with a commentary outlining a willingness to compromise on the proposal or even withdraw it altogether.

In October, National Aquarium officials announced they were seeking an Urban National Marine Sanctuary designation for the Baltimore Canyon, a vast 28-mile long and five-mile wide submarine canyon off the coast of Ocean City that lies at the center of the resort’s multi-million fishing industry. According to the National Aquarium’s petition drive, a designation of the nation’s first Urban National Marine Sanctuary for the Baltimore Canyon “presents a unique opportunity to connect an urban population to the ecological treasure using cutting edge deep sea exploration technology.”

The National Aquarium’s announcement in October was met with fears from the resort’s area’s multi-million fishing industry, whose representatives fear a sanctuary designation would ultimately limit, restrict or perhaps prohibit recreational and commercial fishing in the canyon. In the weeks since, the resort’s area’s delegation in Annapolis, including State Senator Jim Mathias and Delegate Mary Beth Carozza, for example, have been working with local fishing industry leaders and other stakeholders in making known their concerns over the proposed designation.

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12 comments:

Anonymous said...

this would be devastation to OC. Think about all the multi million dollar sport Yachats that would be gone over night. The town would be hard pressed to attract those types of people again and the money they spend would be gone. Leave it to the baltimorons to mess up our backyard for some BS. Thank good Omalley is gone because you know he would have been all about it.

Anonymous said...

Where to you think the multi million dollar yachts come from? It sure ain't Willards or Snow Hill. OC was fine before there was a fishing tournament every other week. They go out and destroy fish that are catch and release only. Drag them into be weighed in two pieces and sue each other over the money. It is a disgrace.

Anonymous said...

a designation of the nation’s first Urban National Marine Sanctuary for the Baltimore Canyon “presents a unique opportunity to connect an urban population to the ecological treasure using cutting edge deep sea exploration technology.”

What is this? Why do we need a designation to accomplish this. Is this some way of swindling grant money out of the feds?

Smells fishy to me...

Anonymous said...

how magnanimous they are

Anonymous said...

There is already a Canyon in Baltimore! It is the inner city! It is a canyon of deceit, disgrace, and degenerates!

Anonymous said...

The so called canyon is under the friggin' ocean!

Nobody can see it.

These "nature lovers ideas" are usually a ruse to steal natural resources from regular people. The ocean belongs to all of us.

Anonymous said...

Just another self important group trying to control others.

Anonymous said...

2:06 PM You are an idiot and have no idea what you are talking about! I'll leave it at that for now, but I will embarrass you if you say anything else stupid!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous Anonymous said...
2:06 PM You are an idiot and have no idea what you are talking about! I'll leave it at that for now, but I will embarrass you if you say anything else stupid!

December 20, 2016 at 6:38 PM

you are only embarrassing yourself. But go ahead and give it your best shot gomer.

Anonymous said...

Please prove me wrong, if you think you can. Most boats in these "tournaments" are not owned locally. They kill sport fish and only care about who gets the money.

Anonymous said...

I'll start with the biggest error in your statement:
"They go out and destroy fish that are catch and release only. Drag them into be weighed in two pieces and sue each other over the money. It is a disgrace."
December 20, 2016 at 2:06 PM

The truth is far from destroying fish in mass, for example, Of the 1,358 Billfish that were caught, 1,334 were released. Hardly destroying the population of White Marlin in the region! Do you realize how much money is spent in Ocean City by the participants in the White Marlin Open? Do you realize the number of people who have jobs in Ocean City that otherwise would not should the tournament not take place? I'll stop here unless you want it to get personal?

Anonymous said...

Get personal. Go ahead. I don't care how much money they spend polluting the environment, drinking beer and harming catch and release fish. You must be one of them rich people that owns a marina or sells supplies to them. It has only been in the last 15-20 years that these tournaments have grown in size and frequency. It's a rich man's "sport". Your numbers are suspect since they are self reported and we all know that these "fisherman" tell the truth since lie detector tests are given to the participants.