Crab manager fired

[silasvirus82]

Crab manager fired

I don't even understand how this is a political issue. This is exactly why science is important. The concerns of special interest groups should be listened to, without a doubt, but management and regulation should be based on hard data, not emotion. If the waterman want the size limit reduced, population models should be run to determine if it would be sustainable in the long term, otherwise it would hurt the very people arguing for the change.

I don't know much about crabs, but the waterman pushing for changes to the oyster harvests are completely based on money and politics. The facts are, despite recent recoveries in oyster beds in the bay, we are still at less than 1% of historical levels. The facts are, oysters sell for at or over $10/dozen at the market, so it's not hard to see why they are after them. Each one is almost a dollar bill just sitting there. Don't buy local oysters!

Point is, waterman are not making decisions on their best interest long term, they only care about the now.

[dasher]

Here is a link, http://www.bayjournal.com/article/ma...plain_to_hogan

It seems they want the 5" rule to go away. Just food for thought, why can't we "farm" crabs like we do fish??

As crabs go through their life cycle & shed or molt they are extremely predatory & cannabalistic. It is extremely difficult/expensive to raise our blue crabs using aquaculture. It can be done, they have relatively short life spans but is far more expensive than managing fishery by setting quatas and limits. Many people keep peelers to get them to shed & that is only a few days. really farming crabs is a much much more complictaed process.

[whenican]

There sure isn't much meat on a crab that's less than 5" tip to tip & true, it doesn't make much sense to wipe out the population just for a couple of year's overharvesting.

[Fishinfool]

The Md Waterman's Association seems to have more pull with Hogan than with the prior administration; particularly on oysters and it seems now also on crabs. The MWA successfully killed an Army Corp of Engineers studyyster replenishment program in Harris Creek, and now want to open up 10% of existing
sanctuaries to power dredging.

This is all about money and politics. The sport,and recreational industries simply do not have the funds or long term connections to state government to compete with the MWA, and advocate for a more science based approach to fisheries management.

[ronaultmtd]

Saturday and Sunday at Bass Pro Shop Spring fishing Expo...how much money do you think recreational fishermen/women spent on boating, tackle, accessories in just those two days? Probably as much as the watermen make selling crabs in a month...the problem we have is we are not organized into an effective political force- Save the Bay...CCA Maryland...do their best with the fraction of the recreational fishermen/women and boaters/sailors that belong and pay dues of the total number...in politics it is all about leverage, numbers and voters...a small group of well financed watermen making key political donations to the right politicians can punch well above their weight...

[yakscientist]

Saturday and Sunday at Bass Pro Shop Spring fishing Expo...how much money do you think recreational fishermen/women spent on boating, tackle, accessories in just those two days? Probably as much as the watermen make selling crabs in a month...the problem we have is we are not organized into an effective political force- Save the Bay...CCA Maryland...do their best with the fraction of the recreational fishermen/women and boaters/sailors that belong and pay dues of the total number...in politics it is all about leverage, numbers and voters...a small group of well financed watermen making key political donations to the right politicians can punch well above their weight...

The way I see it, we have several hundred active members on this site, it would speak volumes if even some of us attended fisheries meetings, called Hogan and other MD govt offices, etc. Ron, do you think it'd be more effective for rec fisherman like us to all join an existing group like CCA, or start our own group that would periodically attend meetings, send letters, make calls, and lobby, and all that? I don't know much about this side of the political process, i.e. forming a like-minded group with a simple goal in mind, gaining lobbying power, and reaching your representatives. The closest thing I've done is making daily calls to senators and congressman about issues/cabinet appointments that matter most to me. I certainly would be in favor of starting a new association, something like CKF (concerned kayak fisherman) or SMK (sustainably minded kayakers), but it might make more sense to just boost the membership of a current one, one that does get involved in the political decision making progress. I know there's more than 1 fisheries, or pseudo-fisheries scientist on this forum, and many more scientists with fisheries experience. That, combined with all the trends and knowledge that hundreds of long-time fisherman possess, I think could really be funneled into something quite powerful and influential.

[Mark]

In addition to political and economic clout, there is also an emotional argument which touches tangentially on the politics and money of the matter. Maryland has a long history of watermen plying their trade. Even as their resource diminishes and even though they contributed to its demise, their voices are given added weight because of their long history in Maryland and their significant contribution to its economy and heritage over those many years.

Yes, buggy whip makers are now out of business. Baltimore is no longer the umbrella capital of the world as it was a hundred years ago. But I would argue that people employed in those industries did not consider their work a way of life. Rightly or wrongly, taking watermen out of Maryland would be like taking cornfields from the farmers of Nebraska.

Maryland is doing what it can to sustain a way of life among competing interests and declining resources. Eventually the economics will win and the skipjack fleet will be docked for good. But it will take more time.

There are many books about the watermen of the Chesapeake. One of the best in my opinion is Beautiful Swimmers, by William Warner. It’s 40 years old but it still resonates with the longstanding political (and now lifestyle) issues mentioned in this thread.

There are no bad guys here. Just competing interests trying to find a way to get along. Nevertheless the ending is predictable and eventually the watermen will feel the brunt of change more than most of us will.

Respectfully,

[ronaultmtd]

I think we all are saying pretty much the same things just using different words...no one wants to put watermen out of business. What we want is a sustainable harvest that can support a commercial harvest. Lowering the size limits should only be done if there is good science that says it is sustainable in the long term...same as commercial haul seining for menhaden and herring...over harvesting the resource hurts everyone, but what it does is puts the watermen completely out of business in the long term...and why re-invent the wheel- CCA is our lobbying and political arm for the recreational fishery...we all need to join it, attend its meetings and volunteer to help.