Chesapeake Bay Action Plan
After decades of effort, the voluntary, collaborative approach to restoring the health and vitality of the Chesapeake Bay— the largest estuary in the United States—has not worked and, in fact, is failing.
A diverse group of 57 senior scientists and policymakers have joined forces to save the Bay. This is our plan.
EPA and Chesapeake Bay Foundation are failing to save the bay
Why is it that the 500-pound gorilla of bay groups, the CBF, has acquiesced in this huge setback for bay restoration? In its 45 years of existence, CBF has grown to become a money vacuum cleaner raising $38 million in 2020. They hold $130 million in assets. Tom Pelton in his book, “The Chesapeake In Focus,” wrote of CBF’s spectacular success, not in saving the bay but with $57 million saved in stocks and investments. These investments generated $3.5 million last year. Much of this funding comes from corporate and governmental sources. This is why CBF’s advocacy is restrained to prevent antagonizing these grantors/donors especially since revenues shrank to $27 million last year.
An Open Letter to the EPA
Dear EPA Officials, It is with profound disappointment that I write you after spending 50 years fighting for conservation measures and the Chesapeake’s restoration. My column below details my sadness at yet another failure of the Bay states to meet pollution reductions by wide margins without any EPA sanctions. Instead, the Environmental Protection Agency–the enforcement…
The devastating Chesapeake blue crab collapse
Other factors affecting crab numbers include a failure to restore bay grasses (crab nurseries), polluted waters and invasive species. But the harsh reality is that the increasing harvest pressure triggered by astronomical crab prices is the only readily controllable fix to prevent an imminent crab collapse. However, all harvest restrictions — both existing and new — are rendered meaningless in Maryland because of nearly nonexistent enforcement. Tragically, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has chosen a laissez-faire approach to enforcement, allowing crabbers to act with impunity.
The long, sad degradation of the Chesapeake Bay region
Exacerbating this growing problem in our throwaway society is the disintegration of plastic products into microplastic as these tiny forever chemicals are now found in every area of the bay and its rivers. Plastic production and disposal increased 200-fold globally over the past 60 years. More than 60% of all seabirds have ingested plastic and many of our fish ingest these microplastics, as do oysters.
The Ethanol Scam Continues as U.S. Ramps Up Production
Corn ethanol has not contributed to our energy independence as its life cycle is likely a wash or worse in negative energy savings. Largely due to fracking, the U.S. is now the largest producer of both oil and natural gas. We export increasing amounts of both as production ramps up, and now our net exports exceed imports.
The recent landmark, peer-reviewed research underscores that corn ethanol adds to climate change and causes other substantial problems. It’s well past time to repeal this boondoggle.
It’s time for DNR to restrict the commercial crab harvest
The time has come for DNR to restrict commercial harvest by adopting strict daily bushel limits for males and greatly decreasing the bushel limits for females, reducing the number of crab pots used, shortening the crabbing season, closing crabbing two days each week, and adopting a quota system for each commercial crabber as with rockfish.
Best practices for lawn care when living in the Chesapeake Bay watershed
rigorous scientific review found that the world’s insects are hurtling down the path to extinction, threatening a “catastrophic collapse of nature’s ecosystems.” More than 40% of insect species are declining radically including 53% of butterfly and 46% of bee species; some are critical pollinators responsible for 35% of the world’s food crops. More than 3,500 species of native bees sustain these crop yields. Three-fourths of the world’s flowering plants also depend on pollinators. Pesticides are clearly implicated in these radical declines of insects as well as other pollinators including moths, birds, and bats.
Officials, Chesapeake Bay Foundation must take action to prevent flesh-eating diseases
We need to greatly ratchet down the nutrients especially from agriculture and also from existing and new development. The environmental community must change its tactics and stand up to agribusiness and use the courts and legislature to crack down on this major source of bay pollution. We also must significantly reduce global warming emissions that lead to rising water temperatures and increased nutrients, both which fuel the proliferation and deadliness of flesh eating organisms.
We are senior Chesapeake Bay scientists and policymakers from Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania who have concluded that after decades of effort, the voluntary, collaborative approach to restoring the health and vitality of the largest estuary in the United States has not worked and, in fact, is failing. Our group unanimously recommends that all states draining into the Chesapeake Bay adopt our 25 action items in their Watershed Implementation Plans (WIP) and implement them to improve the Bay’s water quality and to meet the requirements of the Clean Water Act.
Sign up for news & updates from Patuxent Riverkeeper