Watermen Protest and Block Oyster Restoration

Watermen Protest Md. Oyster Project in Dorchester County

A group of watermen took the day off work Thursday to protest and block a project by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources in the Little Choptank River in Dorchester County.

They got a late start Thursday morning, but their catch of the day wasn't crab, it was a boat delivering workers to a barge in the Little Choptank River. The watermen are opposed to the idea of putting a layer of fossilized oyster shells along 187 acres of clear bottom in the river to provide a hard substrate for oyster spat to cling to, creating a new oyster bed. The DNR said this will provide an ecosystem for thousands of oysters which can further speed up efforts to clean the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries such as the Little Choptank, as well as provide a habitat for crabs and fish.

But watermen are not in agreement. They say the project would cover up the mud that crabs will soon be crawling out of, and make the area unharvestable in the future.
During Thursday's protests the watermen were in 11 boats and stopped a crane from putting the shells in the river at 6 a.m. Almost five hours later, the Maryland Environmental Service ordered the work to be shut down for the day, before even one shovelful had been out in the river. Dwane Paul, a waterman from Church Creek, says the number of watermen and boats was instrumental in their success.

I have no idea why watermen would think that a layer of fossil shell would prevent them from harvesting crabs in the future, unless they believe they'll be shut out.  Either crab pots or trot lines should be able to fish over old shell.

Years ago, a layer of shell was put in shallow water near the mysterious "Location X."  As part of my old job we used to monitor oyster spat there, and for many years it support some, if not overwhelming spat set.  Certainly better than sand.  And it didn't deter crabbing that I could see.

"I think it's gonna take that many and a lot more. We need all the help we can get and now's the time to stand up for it." said Paul.

Tom O'Connell says the protest was unfortunate and public tax money not spent well on Thursday. He says the department has started getting feedback from watermen and Dorchester county since January, and they had been sending responses to all inquiries. He says so far, the groups have not put forward any scientific evidence to support the claim that the fossil shells would damage the environment in the river.

I have jaundiced eye regarding oyster restoration as too little, too late, and as such, mostly a waste of time and good money.  But for the watermen to try to block oyster restoration is to spite their own nose.

I reiterate my plan for oyster restoration.  Leave them alone.  For at least 5 and preferably 10 years no more fishing for wild oysters.  Let's find out if it's even possible for oysters to flourish in Chesapeake Bay as it exists today.