The federal government is bailing out hard-pressed watermen with a disaster declaration for the region’s collapsing blue crab industry.
Maryland lawmakers led by Sen. Barbara Mikulski had sought the declaration by the Commerce Department since May, after Virginia posted a record-low harvest for the delectable crustaceans and Maryland had its lowest catch since 1945. Watermen have chafed under restrictions that cut the numbers of female crabs harvested and also shortened the season.
The declaration makes watermen eligible for federal funding to help ease the pressure.
Mikulski spokeswoman Melissa Schwartz told The Associated Press that lawmakers must still line up funding — expected to be up to $15 million over the next three years — but called Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez’s declaration “great news.”
Maryland Watermen’s Association President Larry Simns told The Examiner that he and his members were “elated.”
“We kinda almost gave up on it,” Simns said. “We were having a tough time.”
Simns said that under a compromise deal, federal monies will be used to put watermen to work restoring fisheries, planting trees and otherwise “bringing the Bay back.”
“This is not a handout,” Simns said. “They’ll have to work for it. It’s a win-win for everyone.”
Crabs remained the last thriving fishing industry in the Chesapeake until the 1990s, when pollution and overfishing finally took their toll. The stock is down by about 65 percent since 1990, according to Virginia and Maryland officials.
Rep. Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., who lobbied Commerce for the declaration, said that it came in the nick of time.
“Today’s disaster declaration will provide much-needed funding to help industry and state officials restore the crab population and protect the Bay’s ecosystem,” he said in an e-mail statement.
