For oysters, what a difference one year makes
Update: there is new information. Please see more recent post that addresses it.
We have just gotten word that the Department of Natural Resources has changed the rules for managed reserves of oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. They've gone from a 4-inch requirement to a partial 3.5 to now a 3.
The significance of this may not be apparent because it's couched in bureaucratic language. But it means the difference between the supposed purpose of leaving the oysters in the water for a longer time to get ecological benefits -- the stated purpose of the so-called managed reserve program -- and just letting the watermen take them out as they would in any other harvest bar.
In April, my colleague Greg Garland and I wrote a story about the Oyster Recovery Partnership, the nonprofit that has received millions of dollars in federal finds to re-seed the bay with oysters. Many of those oysters are planted in the managed reserves, which were an alternative to the old approach, where DNR would just spread seed around the bay. Here's how we explained:
So he asked the watermen to turn down the state's seed. He said the partnership would instead provide hatchery-raised oysters that would eventually be available for harvest. The oysters would be planted on special bars that he called "managed reserves."
Normally, watermen can take oysters from the bay when they are 3 inches long. In the managed reserves, they had to wait until the oysters were 4 inches. The larger size meant the oysters would have an extra year or so to live in the bay.
But after the first year, when one waterman was so mad about the restrictions that he threw an oyster hammer at Larry Simns, the partnership changed the rules. Today, when half a bar's oysters reach 4 inches, watermen also can remove the 3-inch oysters.
Now, here's what is making the rounds (and apparently infuriating lots of recreational fishermen, who have long been howling about this program):
The Secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) pursuant to Natural Resources Article §4-1009.1 of the Maryland Annotated Code and the Code of Maryland Regulations 08.02.04.14 announces that the oyster harvest reserve areas described below for the Chester River, Choptank River and Patuxent River will be open for harvest under the conditions set forth below.... This action is recommended by the Oyster Harvest Reserve Steering Committee.
Harvesting conditions for all sites: Open Monday through Friday, December 3, 2007 through March 31, 2008 from sunrise till 3pm; 3" minimum cull size; 15 bushel daily limit per license not to exceed 30 bushels per boat (oyster surcharge fee must be paid for each harvester); 5% tolerance of oysters which measure less than 3 inches from hinge to bill and cultch consisting of shells, stones, gravel and slag; only the gear that is legal for the area may be used; catch must be held in containers.
The first year I covered the reserves, in 2004, the difference between them and other oyster bars was clear: the managed reserves were only open Saturday and were only open to tongers and divers. Plus, the aforementioned 4-inch size gave the oysters an extra year in the water.
Now I am wondering what makes the "managed reserves" different than regular harvest bars? Sure, they're monitored and measured, but at the end of the day, you still have the federal government spending millions of dollars to plant oysters in the bay only to let watermen take them out.
Does that make sense? Why did they change the rules? Inquiring minds want to know, but phone calls were not returned last night. All I got from DNR was an explanation of what ORP does, which they surely know I already know.
