State House Connection
S
ince the late 1990s, I have been intensely interested in making significant changes to the state of Maryland’s policies and efforts to restore oysters to Chesapeake Bay. Existing policies and previous efforts, although well intended, did not seem to be producing the desired positive results. I quickly came to the conclusion that if we simply continued these prior efforts unchanged, we would most likely continue to obtain the same disappointing results. Initially, I had to better understand the myriad of complicated issues and processes affecting oyster restoration. This self imposed task at first seemed almost overwhelming. Although the learning curve was steep for me, I’ve continued to work through it for some years before starting a long process of recommending changes through legislation and serving in other capacities in this arena. Endless discussions with scientists and academics, with waterman and fishermen, with aquaculturalists and environmentalists, and with policy makers and regulators in state and federal agencies all served to start to untangle these complicated series of issues for me. Working with like-minded legislators on both sides of the political aisle, the Maryland General Assembly along with Governors of both parties began to make slow but incremental changes over the years. New initiatives to begin changes to the processes and policies which seemed to be holding up progress on the state’s oyster restoration efforts began to be implemented over the last 7 years. The first significant changes occurred with two bills passed in the 2002 legislative session. One of the first efforts was to foster a better climate for oyster aquaculture to develop and thrive in our part of the Chesapeake Bay. Growing oysters through aquaculture had to be a part of the solution. HB-1098 (2002) was a bill that I was the lead sponsor on which allowed for a tax credit for waterfront property owners to grow oysters in a float device at their pier. This tax credit is still in effect today and many hundreds of Marylanders have used the tax credit to grow oysters at their pier, a humble but important first step. That same year I cosponsored HB-662 which established a task force to study the economic development of the Maryland seafood and aquaculture industries. Former Governor Glendenning signed both of these bills into law that year. The work accomplished by the task force established in 2002 produced another legislative initiative in 2005. I was the lead sponsor of a bill, HB-971 (2005) which was cosponsored by Delegate Maggie McIntosh of Baltimore City. Delegate McIntosh is the Chairman of the House Environmental Matters Committee. This bill recognized the need to streamline the permitting processes at various state agencies and restructured the permitting of acquaculture operations. The bill also created several interagency advisory and over-
sight boards, including the Maryland Aquaculture Coordinating Council, on which I currently serve as the House of Delegates representative member. This council has since produced additional legislative proposals and has developed best management practices for the industry. HB-971 was signed into law by former Governor Ehrlich. This effort appears to be producing positive results. In 2007, again I cosponsored another related bill to make yet more progress in this field. HB133 (2007) was entitled Chesapeake Bay - Oyster Restoration. It was signed into law by Governor O’Malley. The mandate of this bill was to establish a broader effort to make changes to oyster restoration policy. Its charge was to engage in a holistic approach which included but went well beyond aquaculture. I was asked by DNR Secretary John Griffin to serve on the Oyster Advisory Commission established by this bill. The commission includes scientists from Maryland and Virginia, economic specialists, environmentalists, watermen, industry representatives, legislators and others. It is Chaired by Mr. Bill Eichbaum, of the World Wildlife Fund. The work of this Commission is ongoing as well, but in this year’s legislative session it was instrumental in having HB-312 (2009) passed and signed into law. The bill establishes a complete revamping of leasing portions of Chesapeake Bay for acquaculture. This is another example of the changes being incrementally implemented to improve restoration efforts of the oyster to Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. We are just beginning the change in this important area and much work remains to be done. Many of the problems have developed over a hundred years or more and will take more time and effort to correct. Funding for these efforts will continue to challenge government. User conflicts, law enforcement challenges, agency conflicts within government itself, and hard to change views on the part of many entities are but a few of the challenges that lie ahead in these efforts. Diseases affecting oysters, pollution and silting over of natural oyster bars and their rehabilitation, and maintaing a vibrant public fishery all are challenges we must face. However, we are beginning to make some progress. If we keep our shoulder to the grindstone, so to speak, I am hopefull we will continue down the path to success in oyster restoration. To learn more about the Oyster Advisory Commission and its work, please visit www.dnr. state.md.us/fisheries/oysters . If you would like to find out more about the work of the Maryland Aquaculture Coordinating Council or aquaculture in Maryland, please visit www.marylandseafood. org/aquaculture . As always, please feel free to contact my office with questions about this or other matters. BY DELEGATE TONY O’DONNELL - DISTRICT 29-C CALVERT/ST. MARY’S
WHITESELL PHARMACY 11859 H.G. Trueman Rd. Lusby, MD 20657
410-326-2004 Serving the community for over 20 years
Thursday, June 4, 2009
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