Tragedy of the Commons coupled with the law of unintended consequence, all "managed by the epitome of idiocy and inefficiency... da gubmint. What could possibly go sideways from there.
Some simple old man logic:
Fish follow food. Red drum food in the Bay (juvie crabs) have no grass in which to hide, leaving the shoreline of the Chesapeake a veritable all you can eat buffet for their predators.
And where have all of the grasses gone?
Well of course there's the largest industry left in the area, farming, which has spent the last 40 years morphing into the biological and environmental nightmare that is modern industrial farming... but say sumthin' bad about a chicken concentration camp in Delmarva and risk being burned at the stake. All them "undocumented workers" have to have a way to afford new I-phones too don't ya know. All part of this stunning economic recovery that we've been in the throws of since the arrival of the messiah.
Then we have the political pimps who buy all of the whores that they need in the State and feral legislatures and we get "permitted" pollution. That which corporations who say... contribute to Marty's fascist wealth redistribution traveling fun show campaign are granted by the feral and State EPA. Curtis Creek, Brandon Shores, Sparrows Point... all dumping "legally permitted" toxins 'cuz they have paid for the privilege. The area surrounding the Coast Guard Yard has been spawning three eyed ulcerous fish for decades, but hey... nuthin' to see here folks, just move along. We're from the gov't and we're here to help.
Of course we also have the interstate cooperation that has stood mumbling in the corner while the Susquehanna's outflow has continued to increase turbidity and reduce the level to which sunlight can penetrate the water. Not to worry. Since when do plants need sunlight to perform photosynthesis? Besides, with all of that pesky prop fouling grass gone we can grow more of that wonderful algae, 'cuz that's a whole lot better than water filtering shellfish, wetlands and grasses.
http://pubs.usgs.gov/sir/2012/5185/pdf/sir2012-5185-508.pdfAs fer the college kids that don't know a Jimmy from a sook, it's not all their fault. The problem is that they are biologists playing with statistics and statistical analysis, and that is the purview of economists not biologists. Just remember, economists are the very "world renowned" idgets that the POTUS has been quoting for years. People like Paul Krugman, a true mental midget among the helmet wearing short bus crowd (the sphincter who spouted that trying to save your money rather than spend it was unpatriotic and akin to terrorism???).
Unfortunately it is most likely a synergy of all of the above. Everything from the knucklehead dumpin' his Caddie's oil pan into the storm drain on North Ave. to the pristine Chemlawn atrocities of Ruxton, Potomac, and golf courses from Virginia to New York. Let's also not forget it was discovered that the recent influx of hormones, pharmaceuticals and personal care chemical compounds heretofore unknown (officially labeled endocrine disruptors) in our rivers and streams are causing the male black bass of the upper Potomac to carry eggs and grow female sex organs??? Somebody at DuPont and Dow apparently forgot to mention to the FDA and EPA that their latest and greatest legal drugs and genetics experiments persist in the environment even after passing through our stellar waste water treatment jokes. Take a look at what happens to those beauties when we get a nice heavy rain.
The tragedy of the commons is that everybody contributes something in their own little way to their ultimate demise, but all along the way everybody involved is so busy trying to get what they want and point fingers at others that nobody wants to be the one to stand up and say STOP! It's always the other guy.
So the next time you're sitting in a Mickey Dee's parkinglot, waiting for your pink slime burger, whose parts have traveled tens of thousands of miles to get to your car window, ask yourself if maybe there might be sumthin' that you could do to make your life
your argument... and maybe even start a revolution? It's all related, and the sooner we all realize that the rulers depend upon keeping us divided and pointin' fingers at each other, the sooner we can all get together and start buildin' us some guillotines.
Not that I have much of an opinion on the subject.
