Tag Archives: Department of Natural Resources
MD lawmakers call hearing on DNR crab manager’s firing
Maryland lawmakers have scheduled a special hearing to investigate the Hogan administration’s firing of the state’s longtime manager of the blue crab fishery. The House Environment and Transportation Committee and the Senate Education, Health, and Environmental Affairs Committee plan to meet jointly Monday to seek more information on the termination last month of Brenda Davis. A 28-year employee of the state Department of Natural Resources, Davis was dismissed Feb. 21 after a small group of watermen complained about her and crabbing regulations to Gov. Larry Hogan. Sen. Paul Pinsky, a Prince George’s County Democrat, said the committees want to know whether politics is influencing science and scientific decision-making in the department. “We have to shine a light on the firing of Brenda Davis,” Pinsky said Thursday. “It seems that the Hogan administration has made her a sacrificial lamb to a small group of watermen who have, to date, not been able to change state crabbing policy.” continue reading the story here 20:17
Maryland’s veteran crab manager fired after watermen complain to Hogan
Maryland’s veteran manager of the state’s blue crab fishery was fired this week after a group of watermen complained to Gov. Larry Hogan about a catch regulation that they contend hurts their livelihood — but that scientists say is needed to ensure a sustainable harvest. Brenda Davis, crab program manager for the Department of Natural Resources and a 28-year state employee, said she was informed Tuesday that her services were no longer needed. In an interview Wednesday, Davis said Fisheries Director Dave Blazer gave no reason for her summary dismissal. But it came after Hogan met last week with about a dozen Dorchester County watermen who had been pressing Davis and the DNR for a change in a long-time regulation setting the minimum catchable size for crabs. Continue reading the story here 11:46
Shrimpers say blackgill mystery may wait in the St. Simons Sound
The crippling blackgill disease first appeared in local waters during the 1996 shrimping harvest, roughly six years after the last time state officials had permitted trawlers to operate in the St. Simons Sound. The parasitic disease, which affects reproduction and vigor in shrimp, is already showing up in the 2016 harvest that started June 1. It marks the earliest point in the season that blackgill has ever appeared in the harvest, according to Lindsey Aubart, a marine biologist with the state Department of Natural Resources. Scientists and marine biologists such as Aubart have studied the blackgill problem for years in search of a source and solution to the mysterious disease, which occurs from the Chesapeake Bay to the Gulf of Mexico but is most prominent in the waters of Georgia and South Carolina. Locally, a lot of experienced shrimpers suspect the answers may be found in those long-fallow shrimping waters of the St. Simons Sound. Read the rest here 08:46
Michigan Considers Controversial Commercial Net-Pen Aquaculture in Huron and Michigan
Several State agencies are looking at proposals to allow commercial net-pen aquaculture on the Great Lakes. The practice is controversial because of environmental concerns. WDET’s Amy Miller spoke with Tammy Newcomb; Senior Policy Advisor for the Department of Natural Resources. She says Ontario has allowed a few net-pens near Georgian Bay and now there are two Michigan proposals. This week the State is holding two public hearings on the two Great Lakes net-pen aquaculture proposals. Listen to the report here 08:29
Crisfield watermen up in arms over DNR’s peeler crab regulations
It’s another winter day that Crisfield watermen are forced to stay off their boats, but the spring may be the start of even bigger problems. “We were hoping it wouldn’t come to this,” says Doug Hall, a waterman in Crisfield, Maryland. In Maryland, the current law requires that the minimum size of “peeler” or soft-shell crabs that watermen can harvest is 3.25 inches until July 14th, when that requirement jumps to 3.5 inches. However, this year the Department of Natural Resources is making that regulation go into effect three months earlier, on April 1st. Read the rest here 15:41
Georgia waters opening to shrimping June 10
BRUNSWICK, GA. | Georgia will open its waters for the commercial and recreational netting of food shrimp at 8 a.m. Tuesday, June 10, the state said. That means commercial trawlers can operate in Georgia’s territorial waters to the three-mile limit and individuals can use beach seines and cast nets to catch shrimp in waters where the shrimping gears are allowed. Read more here 13:55
Half of Hawaii’s Bottomfishing Restricted Areas Opening Up
A long-simmering dispute over the state’s Bottomfishing Restricted Areas (BRFA’s) between Hawaii’s fishing community and the state’s and fisheries scientists has resulted in a move by the state to open six BRFAs and keep six BRFAs closed. Read more here 17:45
Maryland Seafood labeling legislation could pose problems for restaurants
ANNAPOLIS — Marylanders — lawmakers included — take their crabs very seriously, which prompted a legislative proposal that would let residents know when their “Maryland style” crabcakes aren’t the real deal. Some members of the seafood and restaurant industries fear that legislation introduced in the state House of Delegates proposing tighter regulations on seafood labeling could be impractical and costly for Maryland restaurants. Read more here somdnews.com 13:31
Oyster lease bid plan unpopular with Louisiana’s oyster industry
A draft of proposed legislation to lift the moratorium on new oyster leases in Louisiana doesn’t even have a sponsor yet, but two provisions in it are raising the ire of the oyster industry. One provision would require bidding for new leases instead of the current process of leasing these state-owned water bottoms for $2 an acre per year for 15 years. The provision would apply only to new leases, not to renewals. Read [email protected] 17:59
Kent Md. Poacher convicted of overfishing striped bass
According to a news release from the office of Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler, state Natural Resources Police began an investigation after receiving information that Pierce had been using fishing licenses that did not belong to him during the striped bass season in January and February of 2011. Striped bass regulations from 2011 allowed Pierce to catch the daily legal limit of 300 pounds per striped bass allocation. There also was a maximum permitted allotment for total catch per boat of 1,400 pounds per day. more@myeasternshore 14:39
Wisconsin DNR issues commercial fishing citations in Two Rivers
MANITOWOC — The Department of Natural Resources has issued 44 citations for commercial fishing violations against Susie Q Fish Co. of Two Rivers, its owners and employees. The ordinance violations occurred in 2007 through 2010, according to court records. Among the charges were fishing with an illegal net, failing to return game fish and failing to keep accurate records. Read more here
