Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Friday, November 21, 2014

2014 State of the Nation's River: River Friendly Growth


According to the Potomac Conservancy's 2014 State of the Nation's River, it is estimated that by 2040 the population in areas surrounding the Potomac Watershed will increase by 2.3 million residents. If this explosive population growth is not planned correctly it could be catastrophic for the health of land, waterways, and drinking water sources.

Mine Pool Waters Threaten to Contaminate Potomac


The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, in cooperation with the Maryland Bureau of Mines and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, recently completed a multi-year project to determine the risk of polluted water discharge from mine pools near the North Branch of the Potomac River.


Monday, November 10, 2014

Chesapeake Bay Hypoxia Report 2014


Sampling of the Chesapeake Bay in early-August 2014 found that the hypoxic volume (dead zone) in Maryland's portion of the Bay is above average. In fact it is the 8th largest recorded in 30 years of sampling for Maryland. This particular dead zone was most likely caused by mixing in the water column when Hurricane Arthur pass in July.

Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Potomac River Fisheries Commission Meeting

The next full (quarterly) meeting of the Potomac River Fisheries Commission (PRFC) is to be held Friday, December 5th, 2014 at 9:00 AM. It will take place at the PRFC headquarters, 222 Taylor Street, Colonial Beach, VA 22443. The public is invited, and highly encourage, to attend. 

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Continued Concern for Dwindling Crab Populations


Concern over dwindling numbers of blue crab in the Potomac River continues to grow for Maryland and Virginia watermen. Some fishermen blame rockfish and catfish for eating juveniles, however, it is most likely a reduced number of spawning age females preventing the recovery of crab populations.

Analysis of the 2014 winter dredge survey, conducted by Maryland and Virignia, suggests that the number of spawning age females is well below the "safe level" of 70 million. For several years now the Potomac River Fisheries Commission has been working to reduce the number of female crabs caught by implementing harvest reductions. Unfortunately, the success of these reduction has been small, this year the number of females caught was reduced by only 8.9%.

Low crab numbers are driving prices up, due to a still high demand for crab meat, while putting crab fishermen out of business, as there's not enough for everyone to catch.

Read the original article: Despite Downturn, Some Local Watermen Optomistic

Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Maryland Blue Crab Moratorium?


Blue crab fishing in Maryland has been a struggle the past couple years, and there's a need for a solution to these low crab populations. Goucher College has proposed a  moratorium on crab fishing for a full year, and according to a poll taken by the college 63% of Maylanders are in support, but not by locals.