Sep 16, 2009 5:32 pm US/Eastern
Report Confirms A Troubled Chesapeake Bay
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) ―
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Reports detailing a bay in trouble are unfortunately nothing new.
CBS
Reports detailing a bay in trouble are unfortunately nothing new.
But as
Alex DeMetrick reports, a study out Wednesday focuses on watermen and the bad times they are facing because of bad water.
For years, watermen have been telling
Eyewitness News what's wrong with the Chesapeake.
They've described the numerous factors that have cut into the catch, into incomes, into a way of life detailed now in a new report.
A catalogue by the group Environment Maryland highlights collapsing fisheries and shrinking opportunities on the water.
"After 25 years of government effort, the Chesapeake Bay is still dangerously sick, and the bay's watermen are paying the steepest price," said Tommy Landers, Environment Maryland.
"I think we're at a crucial point where we could collapse within the next five years. And if they don't do something drastic now, that could happen," said Larry Simns, Md. Watermen's Association president.
What watermen want is advanced sewage treatment. Every day, more than 500 million gallons of treated sewage flows from Maryland into the bay.
Harmful bacteria are killed, but nutrients like nitrogen are released. That can feed algae blooms which block sunlight, kill oxygen and leave dead zones.
The biggest hit was to the oyster catch. A century of unlimited harvesting was followed by disease that has left native stocks decimated. Federal and state governments are hoping aquaculture might bring the oyster industry back.
All of this may come at the cost of independence in the wild for watermen as they farm for a boss on shore in water that may still be troubled.
The report does hold out hope that the executive order signed by President Obama will bring tougher enforcement of clean water laws in the Chesapeake's watershed.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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