The Virginia Waterman is not the Culprit but the Victim
The Virginian-Pilot
© May 13, 2008
Whether Chesapeake Bay watermen win a federal disaster declaration, and the money that might flow from it, Maryland and Virginia still have an obligation to see them through the crab crisis the states helped cause and are now trying to solve.
The states have new rules designed to reduce the harvest of female crabs by 34 percent, and to give a crashing fishery the chance to recover from decades of nutrient pollution, toxics and overfishing.
When the states announced new limits on harvests earlier this year, and promised more to come, they were finally reacting to the latest symptom of a long-standing problem. Sadly, for the watermen and for everyone fond of their imperiled catch, the cause of the Bay's problems remain to be addressed with similar vigor.
The Chesapeake's woes are rooted in the fertilizer that farmers put on crops and suburban home-owners deposit on lawns; the outflow from inadequate sewage treatment and broken septic systems; the chemicals that run off roads and parking lots each time it rains; the detergents used to clean dishes and clothes. All that stuff, when it washes into waterways, disrupts the ecosystem of the Bay and the economy it supports.
Until permanent changes are made to the behavior of the watershed's human inhabitants, disruptions like the Bay has seen in the crab population and other species will be unavoidable. In the meantime, however, both states have an obligation to those suffering in the current crisis.
The governors have taken the extraordinary step of asking the Commerce Department for a federal disaster designation, a first step to get Congress to appropriate money for crabbers and the businesses that depend on them. But the Commerce Department could also decide the crisis was avoidable, or a cash-strapped Congress could do nothing.
The federal response doesn't satisfy the obligation Maryland and Virginia and - quite directly - their citizens, have to the watermen downstream from their lawns and businesses and farms. If the federal government won't provide aid, state governments must.
Whether they like it or not, the tremendous growth in the suburbs of both states has done serious harm to the Chesapeake Bay and, by extension, to the watermen. The least all those new citizens can do is help their neighbors in a time of need.
Good article and for the most part accurate.
The exception is the overharvesting part.
Fewer crabbers crab every year. Fewer pots go in the water and fewer crabs get caught.
Overharvesting is what VMRC has said and spun for years (15 of them).
Why do they do this?
To cover the mismanagement of the Department of Natural Resources.
One Agency will not point the finger at another agency.
It is worthy to note that in Gov. Kaine’s letter to the Secretary of Commerce overharvesting was not mentioned one time. Instead the governor put the cause where it belongs, on water quality and loss of habitat.
Hopefully that message has been sent loud and strong. Department of Natural Resources get your act together. Do your job.
EPA you are failing too.
Is the Bay going to be clean by 2010?
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Nice article by the "Pilot". They seem to get the fact straight and to the point.
But, as to pollution, check out va's DEQ. Presently the water quality standard (for fresh water recreational areas" is 126 colony forming bacteria per 100 milliters of water. DEQ has proposed that the State Water Control Board institute a change to those standards. It is suggested that the level be increased to 206 colony forming bacter.
This does not sound like a "clean up". There is a comment period until May 30.
Check out "va deq" on the internet - then search under "water quality standards" - then down to "deq.virginia.gov/info/waterstandards/html"
If the increase is granted it will also allow waste water treatment plant to permits to increase the bacteria released.
This is for fresh water standards. But, most fresh water flow through streams and other water courses into the Bay.
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Thought this was a good article - like the way the Pilot reports. Seems to be they get the facts and don't take sides.
Regarding the present problem with pollution - There is another problem brewing involving bacteria.
Check out
Seems DEQ has proposed that the SWCB change its standards of bacteria levels in recreational fresh water. The present standard is 126 colony forming bacteria per 100 milliliters. They want to up it to 206 per 100 milliters. That's a 60% increase.
Bacteria can become resistant to antibotics. Do we want more bacteria washing downstream into the Bay?
Your call.
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The Chesapeake Bay water shed extends beyond VA and MD. WV, PA and probably DE should be involved in helping make the bay better. Possibly NY?
As a commercial license holder with 100 crab pots and 7000+ oyster in aquaculture I disagree with the premise that DC, Richmond and Annapolis, or Dover, Charleston, Harrisburg, and Albany owe watermen anything! We, choose our livelihoods, just like all the other people who live in the water shed, we know what life is about and we must be responsible for our actions. However, I whole-heartedly agree that EVERYONE in the water shed owes the Chesapeake Bay EVERYTHING!!! Any funds generated should go to the bay thru various programs developed to correct all the problem areas you note in your article.
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