Watermen
Fishing and Boating Industries (F.B.I.)
Massanutten Reg. Gvnrs. School / Newcomer
3/14/2007
7:44:00 AM
We are the Fishing and Boating Industries and are one of
the stakeholder groups that craft a
livelihood out of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. We
represent the fishermen and watermen
of the Potomac watershed which runs its course to the
Bay. Most of our businesses have been
passed down from generation to generation and have a lot
of sentimental value to us all. Due to
harsh, though necessary, regulations enforced by the
federal government and state legislations
of Maryland and Virginia, we are forced to find part
time jobs on land and, occasionally, leave
the bay area altogether in search of stable
employment. We are an important role to the
Chesapeake because we were once the major providers of
food and economic stability for the
Bay. Fishing, crabbing, and harvesting oysters not only
fed the inhabitants of the Eastern
Shore but also provided the majority of their incomes as
well.
Since pollution has become extremely prevalent in the
Bay and its watershed, there have been
numerous fish kills. This is due in part to thermal
pollution and fertilizer runoff. These
circumstances have often induced algal blooms blocking
sunlight from the Bay and causing the
Bay to become eutrophic. Algal blooms have also
resulted in a decline in the price of blue crabs
because of the abundance of food for the crabs. Supply
was much higher than the demand and
many crabbers were forced to leave the Bay in search of
a sustainable income. These
populations fluctuate so much that our businesses are
often affected by some problem.
Currently, the blue crab population is down 34% since
1990 and commercial landings of oysters
declined from over 6 million bushels in the 1950s to
fewer than 200 thousand bushels in 1993.
We realize that we too have done our part to cause the
Chesapeake Bay to be degraded to the
pitiful state it is in now. We do want to make amends
and try our best to restore the Bay as
much as possible. Our objectives are to help stabilize
the fish, crab and oyster populations as
well as decrease the amount of pollution in the
watershed. Fish such as the sturgeon were over
fished in colonial times. Similarly, during the 1970s,
rockfish followed the same disastrous
problem. But, with the help of the Chesapeake Bay
Foundation and Maryland Watermen’s
Association we believe that we can help to avert further
degradation from occurring.
We plan on accomplishing our objectives by reducing the
amount of fish, oysters, and crabs
that we harvest for a cycle or two in order for the
declining populations to make a comeback
and become more sustainable so our future generations
can survive here and continue our
legacy. As fishermen and watermen, we understand that
doing so would greatly jeopardize our
own livelihoods. To compensate for the vast income
lost, we are pushing members of our
organization and our supporters to motion and vote for
legislation that would pay fishermen
and watermen who are unable to make a sustainable income
to clean up pollution and build
needed cleaning facilities. We hope that, not only will
the declining species have much needed
time to repopulate and regain sustainability, but also
we will be actively cleaning and improving
the environment for these species’. Fishermen and
watermen will be able to still live in the Bay
area as well. We realize that the government may not
grant us such legislation if only the
Fishing and Boating Industries push for it. Therefore
we are hoping that all stakeholders that
support the Bay’s economy and culture will aid us in
pushing for this legislature to pass in the
near future.
If this solution works and such legislations are passed
we will experience some monetary loss
and know that the government will not be able to fully
compensate us for all of the profit we
would make if we continued our harvest without
conserving resources whatsoever. There will
be the marginal fishermen that will not be able to
continue their way of life out here in the
Chesapeake Bay. We regret even this small loss of our
brethren. However, we realize that
without a few sacrifices, fishing and crabbing will no
longer be a business for anyone. We
also hope to use the money given to us by the Green Fund
to help improve the Bay so that we
may be reimbursed in future years for our conservation
methods. The Green Fund will offer
$130 million to clean up the bay. This money will come
from taxes on homeowners who choose
to build outside the designated growth areas in
Maryland. The Green Fund has not yet been
passed but we hope for support from other stakeholders
of the Bay to push it through. This too
will not only help clean the Bay, but will also keep
building to minimum which is also beneficial
to the species inhabiting the Chesapeake Bay.
These solutions will benefit the Fishing and Boating
Industries as well as other inhabitants of
the Chesapeake. We think that with government support
and public information out in the
open, fishermen and watermen will see the need to
conserve resources and realize that it will
pay off in the end. Hopefully our plan to pass our
brainchild law and the Green Fund will be
passed within this next year. We will know whether or
not it has been successful if we are
able to restart fishing and crabbing in the next five
years without a decrease in our original
incomes.
If this is not the case and this plan proves
ineffective. We will repeal the act and hope that
the members of the Fishing and Boating Industries will
be able to make a living with what little
resources we will have. Thankfully we are not the only
organization attempting to pass laws
and conserve our way of life. The state of Maryland has
enacted emergency regulations with a
goal of reducing harvests of female crabs by 20%.
Unfortunately, these laws only hurt us.
The Fishing and Boating Industries is hoping for as much
support as possible from all of the
Chesapeake stakeholder groups. It is up to all of us as
a community to make this ecosystem and
this economy work.
Works Cited
Blankenship, Karl. "Virginia to allow fisherman to keep,
sell some shad by catch." Bay Journal.
April 2006. 14 Mar 2007 .
"Health Officials: Some Swimmers Should Avoid Chesapeake
Bay." Rare Bacteria Kills
Maryland Fisherman. 14 Mar 2007 .
Horton, Tom. "Why can't we save the bay?" National
Geographic. June 2005. 14 Mar 2007 .
"Maryland Watermen's Association." Waterman's Gazette.
March 2007. 14 Mar 2007 .
Ask this stakeholder a
Thoughtful Question or Respond
Thoughtful
Questions
From:
Conkreat Jungul Massanutten Reg. Gvnrs. School /
Newcomer
3/19/2007
7:36:00 AM
The paper over all is well thought out and is concise. I
have a couple questions: Are
there two bills in legislation? I understand the Green
Fund bill, but the brainchild law is
what is confusing me. If as I understand it the
brainchild law bill will help compensate
fishermen that use BMP’s and other conservation methods
while fishing. Where is the
money coming from? Is this legislation in front of the
House of Delegates or in front of
other State governments? I don’t expect you to answer
all these questions, but I hope it
will help you improve your paper.
Response from
Fishing and Boating Industries (F.B.I.)
Massanutten Reg. Gvnrs. School /
3/26/2007
6:25:00 AM
In response to Conkreat Jungul's question, neither of
these two bills are in legislation. The
Green Fund is being voted on as we speak in state
delegations (Maryland since that is the
state that would be taxed). Our "brainchild bill" was
an invention of our own that we
thought would be a good idea; no such proposed bill has
been introduced into any
legislation that we are aware of. The idea is not to
reward fishermen for using BMPs but to
decrease the amount of harvesting they do for a few
seasons and then compensate them
the money they would lose by employing them to actually
clean up pollution and build
structures that are helpful to improving the environment
for the fish. If you are familiar w/
the CCC of Roosevelt's New Deal, our idea is reminiscent
of that.
The money for the Green Fund would come from taxes on
Maryland homeowners for
building homes outside of designated zones. The money
for the brainchild bill would also
come from taxes. Hopefully the government will balance
the economy when the crab and
oyster populations are stable and tourists will actually
be eating seafood from the bay
(currently all see food in the Chesapeake is imported).
They will no longer have to pay
other areas for their goods.
From:
Chesapeake Industrial Corporation Massanutten Reg. Gvnrs.
School /
3/19/2007
7:41:00 AM
Reducing the number of fish harvested is a good idea to
help improve the Bay's
population. However, even with the Green Funds help
would the farmers be able to
sustain their families solely on this new income plus
the reduction in income from
fishing. The farmers therefore would have to find a
second job to support themselves.
Also, Green Fund divides their $130 million to give to
other programs, so how much
would they be willing to give to all waterman? Would all
watermen be willing to do this in
the name of saving the environment?
Fishing and Boating Industries (F.B.I.)
Response
3/21/2007
6:07:00 AM
Most waterman already have second jobs because of the
pollution in the bay. The Green
Fund would give a small portion of money to waterman. A
second job would still be
needed to survive. If legislation is passed, the
waterman would have no choice but to
participate in saving the environment.
From:
Blankenship Development Massanutten Reg. Gvnrs. School /
Newcomer
3/19/2007
8:01:00 AM
We commend you for your efforts in trying to do your
part to help the Chesapeake Bay,
but some of your ideas need to be further expanded. The
idea of reducing harvesting is
valid, however, simple legislation cannot force people
to stop harvesting. Even with the
reduction of harvesting licenses, people will continue
living their lives. Also, it is
important to take into consideration that crabbing is a
large tourist attraction that
provides a lot of money. We also feel that allowing
crab populations to stabilize will
cause problems. If we prevent fisherman from harvesting
for a certain amount of time,
when they return to harvesting, there will be no
limitations to how much they can
harvest, and thus, the population will reach a
devastated state once again.
Fishing and Boating Industries (F.B.I.)
Response
3/21/2007
6:16:00 AM
In response to your questions on our P.O.V. paper, I
understand your concern on our idea of
restricting harvesting. I know that there will always
be people who will break the law, but
we have to keep in mind that the majoraty of fishermen
have invested interest in the bay.
They live simple lives, respect the bay, and want to
help it flurish for future generations.
Restrictions are already in place in the bay, and are
showing improvements in fish, oyster,
and crab populations. Also, after the populations have
raised to more stable numbers, are
plan is not just to let the fishermen free to fish as
much as they want, because your right,
that would cause problems. Our plan is to slowly
decrease the restrictions allowing
fishermen to beable to harvest more and more over the
next few years. As far as crabing and
tourism, if you are worried about not getting your sea
food when you go to the bay, you
may be surprised to know that already sea food is being
imported to resturants because the
bay cannot support the economy. But if you were worried
about tourists wanting to catch a
few crabs to get the experience, that is not going to
hurt the population enough. Tourists
are not going to go do the big harvesting, they just
catch a few at a time (not enough to
make a difference).
From:
Anonymous Moorefield H.S. / Gillies
3/23/2007
9:46:00 AM
The state is making laws against your boating industries
and they are only hurting you.
Well, what kind of laws are you talking about, besides
the one about reducing the catch
of female crabs by 20%. And by reducing all those
fishies of yours, won't that cause a
big uprise in the prices in all the markets and people
that sell them.
Response to all from
Fishing and Boating Industries (F.B.I.)
Massanutten Reg. Gvnrs. School /
3/26/2007
6:26:00 AM
We understand that by creating new legislation that
restricts our industry, our profits will
decrease. However, we have been living by the bay for
many generations and we want our
children to be able to enjoy the same life we have been
able to. In order to do that we need
take protective measures now so that in the future the
bay will be healthier. Also, most of
us already have other jobs, we are going to take some
time to work on cleaning the bay and
hopefully gain some government grants for our work.
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