Crab meeting summary
"The crabs want something. Let's see if we can give it to'em: 1970 water quality."
--Don Pierce, Rock Hall crab potter, April 10, 2008
By my count, several hundred people showed up last night at Calvary church for the Department of Natural Resources' meeting to discuss blue crab restrictions, and none of them seemed very happy about what was going on.
Among the complaints: DNR's proposals this week for restrictions on crabbing went much further than their previous proposals. Where DNR had been talking about a 40-60 bushel limit for potters and a 30-40 limit for trotliners in February for males and females, they were now talking a seven bushel or six bushel limit on just females. If crabs are fetching $50 a bushel, as they were recently, a crabber (especially a potter, who is out $700 for fuel and bait and labor even if he doesn’t catch anything) is not going to make much, if anything. And finding other part-time work isn't feasible, since they have thousands of dollars invested in their boats and would still have to maintain them whether they crab every day or just a couple of times a week.
DNR also for the first time talked about closing the season in October for good on catching females. That would disproportionately hurt the seafood processors and the lower bay crabbers, as it would not be worth it for them to go out and spend the same amount on gear, bait, etc. just to catch the few males that are out there. What would happen? They'd probably go up to the upper bay, where more crabbers would be fishing for males.
DNR officials did warn in September that the population was crashing and restrictions were coming. Even so, many people felt blindsided not only by the stricter bushel limits and potential closing, but also with the late notice. More than one person suggested to me that DNR was hoping to have a lower turnout for its meeting, and that's why crabbers weren't aware of the new proposals until about 10 p.m. the night before, when they got the info off DNR's website. DNR Secretary John Griffin apologized for the late notice, but that didn't seem to make anyone feel warm and fuzzy.
Griffin said O'Malley would be announcing the results of the winter dredge survey Tuesday in a joint press conference with Va. Gov. Tim Kaine. But the department has said that it doesn't have the results yet, leading many to wonder how O'Malley is going to interpret data from 500 or so sites in the bay on the spot, and say something meaningful about them. Or, do they expect to have the thing by Monday, giving the governors 24 hours to prepare something? Speculation is that they already have results, and have had them for weeks, and the reason the proposals have changed in the past two months is because of the winter dredge data.
Another issue that was bothersome to the crabbers: would there be any economic compensation to mitigate the fact that they are losing their livelihood? Griffin said a study is underway with the University of Maryland now. But it seems that the study's results will be ready AFTER regulations are finalized, which is at the end of April. Some crabbers felt that, considering the department has been planning for restrictions since September, it should have considered compensation measures earlier.
There were an awful lot of compelling stories last night, but I think the most moving was the testimony of a young-looking guy in an Army-green shirt who just got back from his third tour in Iraq. A lifelong Eastern Shoreman, he wants to get back to crabbing. But if the restrictions take effect, he told me, he'll have to take on full-time employment with the military. That, he said,means he could be on his way back to the Middle East.
With three kids, he said, "I need to be able to provide for my family, not just exist."
--Don Pierce, Rock Hall crab potter, April 10, 2008
By my count, several hundred people showed up last night at Calvary church for the Department of Natural Resources' meeting to discuss blue crab restrictions, and none of them seemed very happy about what was going on.
Among the complaints: DNR's proposals this week for restrictions on crabbing went much further than their previous proposals. Where DNR had been talking about a 40-60 bushel limit for potters and a 30-40 limit for trotliners in February for males and females, they were now talking a seven bushel or six bushel limit on just females. If crabs are fetching $50 a bushel, as they were recently, a crabber (especially a potter, who is out $700 for fuel and bait and labor even if he doesn’t catch anything) is not going to make much, if anything. And finding other part-time work isn't feasible, since they have thousands of dollars invested in their boats and would still have to maintain them whether they crab every day or just a couple of times a week.
DNR also for the first time talked about closing the season in October for good on catching females. That would disproportionately hurt the seafood processors and the lower bay crabbers, as it would not be worth it for them to go out and spend the same amount on gear, bait, etc. just to catch the few males that are out there. What would happen? They'd probably go up to the upper bay, where more crabbers would be fishing for males.
DNR officials did warn in September that the population was crashing and restrictions were coming. Even so, many people felt blindsided not only by the stricter bushel limits and potential closing, but also with the late notice. More than one person suggested to me that DNR was hoping to have a lower turnout for its meeting, and that's why crabbers weren't aware of the new proposals until about 10 p.m. the night before, when they got the info off DNR's website. DNR Secretary John Griffin apologized for the late notice, but that didn't seem to make anyone feel warm and fuzzy.
Griffin said O'Malley would be announcing the results of the winter dredge survey Tuesday in a joint press conference with Va. Gov. Tim Kaine. But the department has said that it doesn't have the results yet, leading many to wonder how O'Malley is going to interpret data from 500 or so sites in the bay on the spot, and say something meaningful about them. Or, do they expect to have the thing by Monday, giving the governors 24 hours to prepare something? Speculation is that they already have results, and have had them for weeks, and the reason the proposals have changed in the past two months is because of the winter dredge data.
Another issue that was bothersome to the crabbers: would there be any economic compensation to mitigate the fact that they are losing their livelihood? Griffin said a study is underway with the University of Maryland now. But it seems that the study's results will be ready AFTER regulations are finalized, which is at the end of April. Some crabbers felt that, considering the department has been planning for restrictions since September, it should have considered compensation measures earlier.
There were an awful lot of compelling stories last night, but I think the most moving was the testimony of a young-looking guy in an Army-green shirt who just got back from his third tour in Iraq. A lifelong Eastern Shoreman, he wants to get back to crabbing. But if the restrictions take effect, he told me, he'll have to take on full-time employment with the military. That, he said,means he could be on his way back to the Middle East.
With three kids, he said, "I need to be able to provide for my family, not just exist."
