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December 28, 2010, 1:51 pm More Blue Crabs, but Chesapeake Bay Is Still at Risk, Report Says
By LESLIE KAUFMAN
Associated Press
A group of volunteers washed and bagged oyster shells as part of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation oyster restoration program in Gloucester Point, Va.The blue crab population is growing again in Chesapeake Bay, but the 64,000 square-mile system of bays, marshes and rivers remains imperiled, according to a report [pdf] released Tuesday by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
The foundation is a nonprofit advocacy organization that measures the health of this complex system, the largest estuary in the United States.
The foundation said that since the release of its 2008 State of the Bay report, which rates the health of the area based on 12 categories dealing with pollution, habitat and fishing, the ecosystem has rebounded slightly, earning 31 points out of 100, or three more than in 2008.
Among the improvements are increases in the plenitude of underwater grasses and in the forested buffers along the watershed, the report said.
The blue crab population, which is so crucial to the local economy, has also doubled from a low of 120 million to more than 300 million, the report found. The increase was largely a result of the fact that two states bordering the bay, Virginia and Maryland, agreed to limit their catch of female crabs.
As encouraging as these improvements are, however, said Will Baker, the foundation's president, "The gains are fragile."
A score of 31 out of 100 is still a very low, he said, noting that unchecked sprawling development is still damaging habitat and introducing pollution into the area. There is still so much pollution from runoff that residents are encouraged not to swim in the bay for 48 hours after a heavy rain.
Among the problems that are not improving are the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous runoff into the bay and the population of the striped bass fisheries. Moreover, the foundation warned, the bay could be threatened by new efforts to drill for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale formation - an enormous underground find lying beneath parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.
"Activity in the Marcellus Shale increased dramatically beginning in 2009 and is continuing to accelerate," the report said.
The foundation said it was concerned that extracting natural gas through a process called fracking - a process of injecting chemicals and fluids at high pressure into rock thousands of feet below the surface - could be damaging ground water in the area further. The federal Environmental Protection Agency is studying the issue.
****** This N.Y. Times Article written & Passed on by the Assoicated Press for the WORLD to Read , Paints a picture that the Chesapeake Bay is a CESSPOOL --
---"As encouraging as these improvements are, however, said Will Baker, the foundation's president, "The gains are fragile."
---------Damm I didn't know it was Money Request Time Already Will!!!
--"Among the problems that are not improving are the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous runoff into the bay and the population of the striped bass fisheries"-----
--Thanks for Kick in the A$$ to the ones of us that KNOW BETTER, as to the Condition of the stroped bass fishery, why is it that Inviromental Groups always get Involved in Fishery Matters, This in my case dates back to the 80's -90's , when as MCBA Pres. I was Challenged , by my Friend Bill Goldsburo(spelling )--at every corner on limit Issues before the Legislature-We had provided a RECOVERED Fishery after 5years of -NO Fishing -No Harrasment -Morortorium that Md.-Del. Prf-Had SUFFERED ALONE--Now were being Undermind by our OWN Maryland Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
---" There is still so much pollution from runoff that residents are encouraged not to swim in the bay for 48 hours after a heavy rain"
---Seems to me We just Experianced a Drought , this year where Rainfall , was so little , that sanility levels moved the Blue Crab Population North & Catches of Ocean fish were a Common Occurance -Even Dolphin sightings were everwhere -We , I Felt were Blessed with Very Few Gully Washers -I guess it depends on your Overall Position & Goals , in this life --Nuff Said --geo.
.
December 28, 2010, 1:51 pm More Blue Crabs, but Chesapeake Bay Is Still at Risk, Report Says
By LESLIE KAUFMAN
Associated Press
A group of volunteers washed and bagged oyster shells as part of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation oyster restoration program in Gloucester Point, Va.The blue crab population is growing again in Chesapeake Bay, but the 64,000 square-mile system of bays, marshes and rivers remains imperiled, according to a report [pdf] released Tuesday by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
The foundation is a nonprofit advocacy organization that measures the health of this complex system, the largest estuary in the United States.
The foundation said that since the release of its 2008 State of the Bay report, which rates the health of the area based on 12 categories dealing with pollution, habitat and fishing, the ecosystem has rebounded slightly, earning 31 points out of 100, or three more than in 2008.
Among the improvements are increases in the plenitude of underwater grasses and in the forested buffers along the watershed, the report said.
The blue crab population, which is so crucial to the local economy, has also doubled from a low of 120 million to more than 300 million, the report found. The increase was largely a result of the fact that two states bordering the bay, Virginia and Maryland, agreed to limit their catch of female crabs.
As encouraging as these improvements are, however, said Will Baker, the foundation's president, "The gains are fragile."
A score of 31 out of 100 is still a very low, he said, noting that unchecked sprawling development is still damaging habitat and introducing pollution into the area. There is still so much pollution from runoff that residents are encouraged not to swim in the bay for 48 hours after a heavy rain.
Among the problems that are not improving are the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous runoff into the bay and the population of the striped bass fisheries. Moreover, the foundation warned, the bay could be threatened by new efforts to drill for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale formation - an enormous underground find lying beneath parts of New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.
"Activity in the Marcellus Shale increased dramatically beginning in 2009 and is continuing to accelerate," the report said.
The foundation said it was concerned that extracting natural gas through a process called fracking - a process of injecting chemicals and fluids at high pressure into rock thousands of feet below the surface - could be damaging ground water in the area further. The federal Environmental Protection Agency is studying the issue.
****** This N.Y. Times Article written & Passed on by the Assoicated Press for the WORLD to Read , Paints a picture that the Chesapeake Bay is a CESSPOOL --
---"As encouraging as these improvements are, however, said Will Baker, the foundation's president, "The gains are fragile."
---------Damm I didn't know it was Money Request Time Already Will!!!
--"Among the problems that are not improving are the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous runoff into the bay and the population of the striped bass fisheries"-----
--Thanks for Kick in the A$$ to the ones of us that KNOW BETTER, as to the Condition of the stroped bass fishery, why is it that Inviromental Groups always get Involved in Fishery Matters, This in my case dates back to the 80's -90's , when as MCBA Pres. I was Challenged , by my Friend Bill Goldsburo(spelling )--at every corner on limit Issues before the Legislature-We had provided a RECOVERED Fishery after 5years of -NO Fishing -No Harrasment -Morortorium that Md.-Del. Prf-Had SUFFERED ALONE--Now were being Undermind by our OWN Maryland Chesapeake Bay Foundation.
---" There is still so much pollution from runoff that residents are encouraged not to swim in the bay for 48 hours after a heavy rain"
---Seems to me We just Experianced a Drought , this year where Rainfall , was so little , that sanility levels moved the Blue Crab Population North & Catches of Ocean fish were a Common Occurance -Even Dolphin sightings were everwhere -We , I Felt were Blessed with Very Few Gully Washers -I guess it depends on your Overall Position & Goals , in this life --Nuff Said --geo.
.