Finally

[assateague]

Its never natures cycle you know....its always a result of tighter laws and regulation so they can pat each other on the back.

My observations...rockfish numbers go up and crab goes down and vise versa. Same goes for gray trout and rockfish. We had a poor year with rock the past two years. Well, poor in comparison to many. This year the crabs and gray trout are every where.

Some day the DNR may actually understand what stripers eat. But I doubt it. The worst thing they do for the rockfish is increase the size limit. They have no idea how many baby stripers a large cow rockfish will eat, or if they do, they choose to ignore it. Same with the crabs. Rocks do love 'em some peelers.

I don't doubt for a second that the eel grass and such does help the entire ecosystem, and that an ecosystem is a delicate thing. But to keep blaming these poor farmers on the Eastern Shore, pointing the finger at them as if their chicken shit is the cause of the problem is just stupid. I guess no scientists have ever been to the harbor in Baltimore or along all the farms that feed the Susquehanna. No, we just have to hear about "too much chicken shit- you have to build a shed, dry it and store, don't spread it a certain time of the year." Nonsense.

My neighbor traps, quite a bit. He's taken well over two thousand foxes in the last couple years, just around here. So what happens? Less foxes, you say? Nope. They start pumping out slightly bigger litters, and the foxes don't decline one bit. Nature knows what its balance is, and it will take care of itself.

[Baysider]

Every rock we catch in the spring season is full of gray trout or crab. Talk to any waterman and they will tell you that slow crabbing years means more rock around. At least thats what they tell me around here. I trust their opinion over a desk jockey any day.

Unfortunately right now the local watermen are getting $7 a bushel for 5" and up sooks. They can fill the boat everyday but cant move them. The middle men seem to be the only ones immune to collusion laws.

Ive wondered the same about the western shore of the bay. Ive done a lot of work in the ship yards and other industrial areas in Hampton Roads. It amazes me that the farmer could be under such scrutiny while these facilities have oil, blast media, and other chemicals literally oozing out of the ground. The fines and permits for water shed and bank improvment is nothing but a tax on the farmer and has less to do with actually helping the ecosystem.

[assateague]

Exactly. The latest plan for the geniuses down here is to impose a 30 foot buffer zone on each side of every ditch in every field, which must be "allowed to revert to its natural state", as if anybody knows what the hell that means. Really? I'm pretty sure the tankers and container ships idling in the Bay waiting to get into Baltimore, dumping waste and sewage don't hurt the Bay at all. It's these farmers, without their 30 foot buffer zone. Idiots.

[Baysider]

Yea Im sure that the gum tree leaves and other hardwoods will do wonders for the water.

[Goldfish]

Exactly. The latest plan for the geniuses down here is to impose a 30 foot buffer zone on each side of every ditch in every field, which must be "allowed to revert to its natural state", as if anybody knows what the hell that means. Really? I'm pretty sure the tankers and container ships idling in the Bay waiting to get into Baltimore, dumping waste and sewage don't hurt the Bay at all. It's these farmers, without their 30 foot buffer zone. Idiots.

Was the ditch there naturally?


MN deals with the same thing, 'cept for it's the farmers making it dirty. We have one bigger river that goes through farm country. That river is nasty before it gets to the cities. The other little river, the Mississippi, is for the most part pretty clear (as clear as a river is going to be) until it reaches the cities. Then it becomes the big muddy.

[assateague]

Exactly. The latest plan for the geniuses down here is to impose a 30 foot buffer zone on each side of every ditch in every field, which must be "allowed to revert to its natural state", as if anybody knows what the hell that means. Really? I'm pretty sure the tankers and container ships idling in the Bay waiting to get into Baltimore, dumping waste and sewage don't hurt the Bay at all. It's these farmers, without their 30 foot buffer zone. Idiots.

Was the ditch there naturally?


MN deals with the same thing, 'cept for it's the farmers making it dirty. We have one bigger river that goes through farm country. That river is nasty before it gets to the cities. The other little river, the Mississippi, is for the most part pretty clear (as clear as a river is going to be) until it reaches the cities. Then it becomes the big muddy.

No, these are drainage and tax ditches. The worst part is, they can't even decide what actually qualifies as a "ditch". Ever tried to measure how wide or deep a 50 year old farm ditch is? And then to add to it, they're cleaned out about once every 10 years, using an excavator, piling the dirt up alongside to be spread/disced into the field. They go from 20 inches from top to bottom to steep-sided 4 feet deep overnight. And how is an excavator going to track through 30 feet of "pristine natural wilderness" in the buffer zone, dumping loads of dirt? I'll tell you how- they're not. There's no way it can work. But that usually doesn't stop them from trying. Hell, it'll take 16 pages just to clarify what qualifies as a "ditch" and how to measure them. Idiots.