Pacific Spirit Marine Institute

Dead Zones in Chesapeake Bay.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Huge patches of algae are cropping up throughout the Chesapeake Bay.

Oceans aren't the only bodies of water feeling the affects of bad runoff.

Mike Naylor from the state Department of Natural Resources told the Baltimore Sun, "We have a lot of people in these watersheds and very little forest cover left." "So our waters have more nutrients than they should, and they're warmer than they should be, so these things combine to allow algae to thrive."

The Chesapeake Bay is known for it's blue crabs. The crab population already in jeopardy has dropped below last years levels which were already alarmingly low.

Last years harvest of the crabs was the lowest recorded since 1945. NOAA fisheries biologists believe the population cannot be sustained at the past rates of exploitation. Maryland announced it would end the season for catching female crabs about 2 months early.

One local man said the only other time he can remember conditions being this bad were when there was a fertilizer seep from a nearby farm into the cove in which he crabs. The crabs have been dying in the water, suffocated from a lack of oxygen.

Watermen are disputing the NOAA report. They say they are finding more blue crabs this year than in the past 15 years. The watermen say they couldn't be overfishing the crab stocks because more fishermen leave the water every year. They are disputing that the NOAA survey is accurate.

NOAA's surveys are said to be highly accurate in predicting the population of the blue crabs.

Scientists and fisherman are at odds.

NOAA says if strict regulations were not put into place that nearly 7 out of every 10adult crabs would be harvested. The population cannot withstand that kind of pressure. Now the algae blooms.

So which came first?

Are the harvests down because the population of the crabs is down, or are the harvests down because the population of the fishermen is down?

One thing is certain. If the algae blooms had been on the Eastern Shore of the bay instead of in the wealthy Baltimore County area there wouldn't be so much public outcry. This area is littered with expensive homes along the water. When the algae gets thick enough to clogs the boat intakes the phone starts ringing off the hook.

One community resident says he can smell the mildew from the dying algae when he comes into the neighborhood at night.

Meanwhile...

Could runoff from well maintained and fertilized lawns, gardens, and car exhaust could be contributing to the problem?

People aren't the only invasive species troubling the Chesapeake Bay either. Scientists say there are now more than 150 exotic species (not native) in the bay, many of which hitchhike in on ships from Asia and Europe.

Plans to test ultraviolet light, filters and some types of chemicals to see how effective they are at destroying exotic larvae and other creatures are already underway aboard a ship in Baltimore.

Four years ago, the Coast Guard began requiring large ships crossing the oceans to stop 200 miles off American shores and dump their ballast water and replace it with ocean water. The Salt water from the open ocean kills some kinds, but not all, of fresh water organisms that stow away in the ballast waters and travel from port to port.

Photo Thanks: Maryland Department of Natural Resources Aug.8 2008