Cup o' Joe
Food, travel, and news on the Chesapeake Bay
Toast Chesapeake Life—Win a Cruise!
Dear Readers,
You are cordially invited to join me on Wednesday, May 5 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., as we toast the new issue of Chesapeake Life Magazine. Come mingle with staff members, writers, photographers, and folks featured in the current issue. We’ll have complimentary snacks and wine and you’ll have the chance to win a cruise to the Bahamas. Check out the details here: http://www.chesapeakelifemag.com/mj10_launch_party.pdf
Hope to see you on the 5th at Smyth Jewelers in the Annapolis Towne Centre. Oh, and feel free to bring a friend!
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Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 04/30/10 at 09:40 AM
So the Chesapeake Bay blue crab population has reached its highest level since 1997—658 million crabs. That’s a 60 percent increase over last year, which also saw a spike from the previous year.
This is good news for everyone—especially the crabs. (I’m still wondering how they were able to convince so many crustaceans to fill out their Census forms. Sorry, couldn’t resist.)
The Powers That Be say this is a direct result of the 2008 law enacted in Maryland and Virginia that shortened the crabbing season and reduced the number of females watermen could catch. That law, understandably, pissed off a lot of people who make their living from the water.
I remember reading a quote when the 2008 limitations were enacted: David Colman, of Cambridge seafood wholesaler Colman and Sons Seafood Inc., called the concern about low blue crab numbers “overblown” and said the species population would eventually climb on its own. “It’s like flies—some years there’s a lot of flies, some years there isn’t,” Colman said. “It’s overblown. It’s ridiculous.”
Maybe. But such a huge increase does make the scientists and lawmakers look good. You have to agree that there’s some logic to the argument that catching fewer crabs translates into more crabs remaining in the Bay. (See: rockfish, Canada geese, for other examples of similar policies and successes.)
So now we’ll just have to wait until next year’s survey to see if this really is a trend. In the meantime, I plan to eat 60 percent more crabs this summer and hope that next year brings more crabs—but fewer flies—too.
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Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 04/14/10 at 02:37 PM
I never met Tom Wisner, the “Bard of the Chesapeake Bay.” But I’ve listened to his music. And read his musings about the birds, fish, and beauty of the Chesapeake. He passed away on April 2 after a battle with lung cancer. He was 79.
The last I read about Tom was an article in the Washington Post a year ago that said he had lost the ability to play guitar due to his chemotherapy treatments. He had also lost his trademark white beard, which he later grew back.
Tom may have been a labeled a “bard” but he led the life of a monk—a monk who worshiped the Chesapeake. He was perpetually poor, and seemingly had no desire for things money could buy.
He chose his work over his wife and the couple “decided it would be best for him not to be a prominent fixture in the lives of their five children,” as the Post article stated. (Tragically, one of his daughters was killed in 1979.)
So instead of being a father figure to his own children, he took his guitar and sang to the schoolchildren of Southern Maryland, where he was a fixture at elementary schools and local festivals. In the 1980s, he sang every Wednesday morning at Hollywood Elementary School and used the children’s voices in his CDs.
Last year, Calvert County Del. Sue Kullen (D) proposed a bill to make his “The Land Maryland” the state’s official children’s song. But the song bill died in committee. It’s likely too late for the General Assembly to try again, but it sure would be an appropriate tribute to the memory of a bard who thought of the Bay as not just something to be saved but as a muse.
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Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 04/06/10 at 10:57 AM
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