Tag Archives: Talbot County Watermen’s Association

A message for Del. Jay Jacobs – This will not go unanswered.

Recent actions that you have taken, makes me put this letter together to address the situations at hand. First of all, your contact with an individual in Cecil County and the information that you gave him concerning Delmarva Fisheries Association is of great concern to all of us at DFA and our local affiliates,,,  DFA was referred to as nothing but a scam just like the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and it was said that DFA receives large sums of money directly from the sale of fishing licenses in the state. These two comments stated at a public meeting in Cecil County are outright lies and misinformation. The gentleman who spoke said he got this information from you and you alone! This will not go unanswered. >click to read< 09:11

Tilghman Island Blessing of the Fleet: Watermen, first responders honored for life-saving rescue

The watermen’s fleet has officially been blessed, along with five men who rescued a waterman earlier this year and saved his life after falling overboard into the Chesapeake Bay’s cold waters. Public officials, community and religious leaders and locals gathered at Dogwood Harbor in Tilghman Island on Sunday, April 11, to give their blessings to the watermen. The ceremony offers good graces to the seafood catchers as they prepare to fish, crab and oyster in the Bay and its tributaries this year. The annual “blessing of the fleet,” comes just after crabbing season officially began on April 1. photos, >click to read< 08:42

Chesapeake Bay advocates alarmed by plan that could open oyster sanctuaries to watermen

Some of the Chesapeake Bay’s most densely populated oyster sanctuaries could be opened to periodic harvesting under a plan being floated by state officials, setting up more conflict between alarmed environmentalists and watermen seeking to make a living. Neither side is pleased with the first draft of a new map of sanctuary boundaries in Maryland’s share of the bay. While watermen would gain some territory they ceded when a state oyster restoration strategy launched in 2010, dredging would be banned in other areas that are now open to harvesting. The net effect would be a loss of 11 percent of oyster sanctuary, instead opening up that acreage to watermen for undetermined stretches of time once every few years. Gov. Larry Hogan’s administration has supported what it calls “rotational harvesting” as a way to balance oyster recovery and bay restoration with the demands of the seafood industry. Continue reading the article here 15:17

Watermen’s Appreciation Day – A day on the bay of the Eastern Shore

talbot-jpg--1-“In Maryland here were called watermen which is a term that’s -a follower, we’re not only crabbers, we’re clammers, we’re oyster men, we’re hunters, we’re fishermen, we do it all,” said Captain Robert Newberry of the Watermen’s Association. This all used to be done be sail . The Chesapeake Bay is the largest estuary in the world and the heritage of the Watermen’s appreciation day celebrates just that. This is the 7th annual event here at St. Micheal’s celebrating  the eastern shores’ watermen. And folks came from all over to enjoy it. The Boat docking contests took the win for entertainment at the event as folks from age 14 to 60 tried docking their boats the fastest and the smoothest – all for bragging rights.  Read the rest here 08:20