Oystermen hopeful for federal disaster relief declaration amid ice in Chesapeake Bay
By David Collins
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MIDDLE RIVER, Maryland (WBAL) — Maryland officials are seeking federal disaster relief for the state’s oyster industry due to ice.
There is a bounty of oysters in the Chesapeake Bay, but oystermen can’t access them because of icy conditions, as well as other factors that include less demand and pollution concerns. The prolonged subfreezing temperatures have left much of the bay iced over, which officials said is part of the reason for the collapse of this year’s oyster season.
Sen. Johnny Mautz IV, R-District 37, whose district encompasses much of the Middle Eastern Shore, is supporting U.S. Rep. Andy Harris, R-District 1, in a push for a federal disaster relief declaration for Maryland’s oyster industry.
“What we’re facing right now is the likes of something that has not occurred throughout my lifetime,” Mautz told WBAL-TV 11 News. “A disaster relief that would also provide financial relief for loans and things of that nature. That alone would provide a lot of help for the individuals who are trying to figure out how to weather this storm, if you will. You know, they’re trying to figure out how to pay their bills.”
The congressman’s office released a statement on Wednesday, saying: “Severe weather this year, combined with shrinking market access and increased competition, left many crews effectively tied to the dock, with watermen able to fish for just one or two days all season. These pressures threaten both livelihoods and a major sector of the Eastern Shore economy. For that reason, I am urging (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) to approve a federal disaster declaration because immediate disaster relief is necessary to help watermen recover from the financial losses caused by this season.”
Oyster boats typically go out five days a week, but the subfreezing temperatures and ice reduced that opportunity to one to two days. Although there’s a bounty of oysters in the bay, the demand for Maryland oysters has changed.
Oystermen are dealing with consumer health concerns about local oysters as cleanup continues from a massive pipe burst that dumped millions of gallons of raw sewage into the Potomac River, which is a bay tributary.
Taste is something oystermen have no control over. Ryleigh’s Oyster in Timonium offers a variety of oysters to suit consumer tastes, and “essence of the sea” flavored ones are a customer favorite, but those come from out of state.
“If you go a little bit north — Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine — you are going to get that ‘essence of the sea’ we just talked about in the brininess and the liquor, they call it, in the oyster shell,” said Joe Gold, a shift manager at Ryleigh’s Oyster.
Phil Kearney, a customer, devoured five dozen of them.
“I do like the saltiness. I do like where the taste smells like the ocean to know I am exactly getting some seafood,” Kearney told WBAL-TV 11 News.
Maryland officials still await a decision from federal officials on the disaster relief request.
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