Now is the time for the Maryland Board of Public Works to approve funding for dredging of oyster shell deposits in the Man – O – War Shoal in the upper Chesapeake Bay.
It has been more than 25 years of delays for final approval of a cost effective and environmentally sound initiative to help restore the Bay’s natural oyster population. This dredging will not only enhance an ongoing rebound of the Bay’s oyster population. It will also increase the capacity of the oyster population to naturally and effectively reduce the impact of pollution by filtering the waters of the Bay.
The reason this delay on final approval of this initiative is simple and frustrating. It is the result of tyranny of the loud led by some environmental organizations. This tyranny ignores the reality that professionals at a wide range of government regulatory agencies (including the U.S. EPA and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources) as well as independent third-party research organizations have all reported that there will NOT be adverse impacts from oyster shell dredging in the Man-O-War Shoal. Despite these fact-based reports, some environmental groups oppose this initiative. Why have they consistently ignored these facts? Could it be that they want to block this initiative because they rely on gloom and doom reports on the health of the Bay to solicit contributions for a large staff, paid lobbyists, a Washington DC lobbying firm, extensive real estate holdings and monies in offshore bank accounts? Do they really have the best interests of the Bay as their true mission? We don’t know.
These are questions that beg more scrutiny by the media and public. What we do know is that because of their opposition, implementation of a proposal from the Delmarva Fisheries Association Inc. (DFA) that includes proven methods to increase the Bay’s oyster population and help mitigate ongoing pollution continues to be stalled to the extreme detriment of the Bay.
This tyranny of the loud is made worse by acceptance of this opposition to dredging by some members of the Maryland General Assembly and all the members of the Baltimore County Council. These are the same groups who share in an abysmal failure to take timely action on the two most negative impacts on the current and the future health of the Bay. Those impacts are untreated raw sewage discharges from the Patapsco and Back River wastewater treatment plants in the Baltimore Metro Region (i.e., Baltimore City and Baltimore County) and toxic sediment released regularly from behind the Conowingo Dam. Until those two pollution sources are fully addressed, it is imperative that steps be taken immediately to allow for dredging and recycling of oyster shell deposits in the Man – O- War Shoal.
At the Delmarva Fisheries Association, our primary guiding principle is simple and transparent. We believe all public policy decisions affecting the Chesapeake Bay should be based on facts AND on the results of independent third-party research. That must be coupled with a long overdue greater focus on the raw sewage discharges from the Baltimore region and dredging toxic sediment from behind the Conowingo Dam. These three outcomes will advance progress on the goals of helping both the oyster population and the Bay to not only survive, but to thrive.
It is time to call out and stop listening to the loud voices of those who oppose dredging and recycling shell deposits in the Man-O-War Shoal. It is time to tell it like it is – opposition to dredging is based in part on obscuring an abysmal long-term failure to pursue important unresolved pollution issues, false narratives unsupported by facts and perhaps self-serving motives. It is time for all stakeholders to acknowledge that dredging and recycling oyster shell deposits in the Man-O-War Shoal is cost effective, a long-term solution to restoring the oyster population, is environmentally sound, and will not harm recreational fishing in the Man -O – War Shoal based on dredging experiences elsewhere in the Bay.
Captain Robert Newberry is Chair of the Delmarva Fisheries Association Inc. (DFA). DFA represents over 80% of Maryland’s watermen; whose livelihood and unique multi-generational way of life depends upon sustainable harvests in a healthy Bay. Captain Newberry grew up on the water and has observed the changing fortunes of the Chesapeake Bay firsthand as a waterman, recreational fishing charter boat captain and farmer.
Sean Michael Scully says
80% of MD Watermen? I highly doubt that. Your website lists 11 individual members and the watermen associations 3 out of the 10 counties on the Bay.
We have already destroyed all the other major shoals in the Chesapeake Bay. Chunks of concrete provide perfectly good substrate for oyster growth. I’m guessing you are against that because it makes it harder to harvest oysters on concrete reefs versus oyster shell reefs.