http://www.easternshorepost.com/10.31.08.pdfBy Linda Cicoira
The Virginia Marine Resources Commission (VMRC)
Tuesday refused to rescind action closing the female
crab season five weeks early, despite the pleas of approximately
50 watermen who urged reconsideration.
The vote on the issue was 4-4. Commission Chairman
Steven G. Bowman broke the tie.
Irene Eskridge, wife of Tangier Mayor James
(Ookar) Eskridge, said the watermen traveled the
rough waters of the Chesapeake Bay to ask for a twoweek
extension of the female crab season. “They were
desperate. They were willing to take anything,” she
said. “But they gave them nothing. It’s a scary time.We
don’t know what we’re going to do.”
Regulations enacted last spring prevailed “in order to
rebuild a crab population at scientifically proven dangerously
low levels,” according to the VMRC’s Web site.
John Bull, director of public relations for the VMRC,
said, “Data show the total numbers have dropped by
70 percent. That’s an alarming drop. That’s screaming
for action. We did what was required to continue the
blue crab species.We wish we didn’t have to do this.”
“It seems we’re getting a bad rap on this,” said waterman
Dean Dise, also of Tangier Island. “They voted not
to allow us to work. There are a lot of crabs around.”
Dise, 49, has worked on the water for most of his life.
“We need to make a living for our
families. I don’t know how much
money we’re going to get from the
government. It would be better if
we could just work,” he said. “The
Democrats are no good. They took
our livelihood.”
“I’d rather be able to make $2,000
than someone to give me $1,000,” he
continued. “I’d rather work.” Dise
said the governor has “the power
to help us out. But he doesn’t do it.
We’ve got no say in the matter.”
Eskridge concurred. “My son
had 78 bushels of crabs Friday.
That’s a lot of crabs. Seventy-five
were the she-ones. It’s just frustrating.
They’re telling us there
aren’t any crabs.”
“My son has a big boat payment
and a house payment. … It’s not
easy out here (on Tangier) to find
other jobs,” Eskridge said. “It’s going
to affect the whole island. … There’s
not a thing we can do about it.” Eskridge
said Bowman’s action “makes
me want to cry. I don’t think he
even … knows what he has done.”
Bull said that while the watermen
claim “there are more crabs
in the bay than anyone knew,” the
VMRC cannot ignore the scientific
information. “Our job here is
fisheries management … to make
sure the species continue.”
“Marine biologists survey 1,500
different locations,” said Bull. The
results show crabs in the bay are
“at dangerously low levels … we
believe our efforts need to focus on
the pregnant females. More mommas,
more babies.” Bull said the
watermen can continue to fish for
male crabs through November.
One weather or biological crisis
could wash larvae out and be devastating,
Bull said. “It’s going to
take a couple of years” to increase
the crab population. “They are really
great at reproducing.”
Meanwhile, the watermen will
need an income.
“We have asked the federal government
…$75 million for fisheries
was granted,” but “not allocated yet,”
said Bull. New England and Gulf
Coast areas also have had problems,
he said. “We are standing in line.
They haven’t decided who will get
how much.We can’t make the federal
government work any faster.
Maryland is asking for it, too.”
Bull said the plan is to put the
watermen to work for those funds
by helping with oyster reef
restoration, eel grass planting and
removal of debris like old crab pots
from the bottom of the bay.
Dise said he feels he is speaking
for all watermen on Tangier
and the mainland of the Eastern
Shore when he says of the VMRC:
“They think they’re making it better,
they’re not. …There’s a plenty
of crabs out here in the bay.”
