E2B-Lancaster Farming,, Saturday, August 15,1992
*Combining ’ Oysters
(ContlniMd from Pago E 27)
catching must be by sail power).
Here, the water was about 17
feet deep. The (hedges were pulled
along about 10 minutes. First mate
Earl said, “You fellows help here.”
Four husky farmers pulled on each
rope, a few grunts were let out, and
up she came.
The catch was dumped on deck.
Black shelled critters were all
grown over with snail-like things
called mussels. The dredge was
tossed over again and soon hauled
up a good catch this time, what
the fisher folk call the real “Ostrea
Virginica.”
The captain whipped out an oys
ter knife and cut one open. He
revealed the vital organs, the grey
oyster blood, and the oyster pump.
The captain explained that oys
ters live by pumping water through
their bodies, as much as 35 gallons
a day, and feeding on minute
organisms filtered from the water
(therefore, polluted water is a no
no).
The shellfish, called “Ostrea
Virginica,” makes an interesting
creature. This bivalve mollusk is
first male, then switches to female.
The female deposits the eggs in the
water, and the male sends out the
sperm. When the young start to
grow, they form shells and settle to
the bottom. Here they attach to
rocks or to other oysters, usually in
15-20 feet of water.
The temperature must be 68 to
70 degrees. All spawning is in the
summer when no harvesting is
allowed. At that time they also
have a salty taste. They grow about
an inch a year, mature at three
years, and maximum fertility is 4
to 7 years.
It takes about six dozen large
oysters to make a bushel, worth
about SSS. Each waterman lays
claim to his own oyster bed, and
woe to those who intrude.
The last oyster war was three
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years ago. At that time, a trespass
ing oyster catcher was shot down
by gunfire. Years ago, dueling
over oyster beds was common.
And oysters purify the water. S.
M. Saake set two glass aquariums
on the cabin roof, poured sea water
in both, and put a half dozen oys
ters in die one. Two hours later, as
the passengers stepped off the
boat, it was easily seen that the
water in the oyster aquarium was
much clearer.
A little motorboat drew up on
the starboard aft “Are these your
oyster beds?” asked one of the
boat’s hands. The captain replied,
“No, this is a tour, we’re not catch
ing. All the catch is dumped back
in. Who’s the waterman,
anyway?”
That was the Maryland State
Biologist, Christ Jody. He kept
checking the oyster growth, the silt
levels, and underwater grasses.
The oyster boat’s speed was
about 4 knots (or 6 mph) heading
south toward Talley’s Point
S. M. Saake got ready to take a
mud sample. A clam, shell-like
device was dropped overboard,
and a double handful of mud was
pulled up and dumped on the deck.
He said, “If this stinks, we know
there is excess nutrients coming
down the rivers. This takes the
oxygen out of the water, then the
oysters can’t grow.”
The passengers smelled the
black gook, which had a manure
scent. Could it have been the heifer
manure spread by a farmer upstate
just before that cloudburst on June
19?
Nancy took the helm and
brought the boat around, heading
toward Kent Island. Off the port
bow lie a large freighter waiting to
enter Baltimore Harbor. The cap
tain said the wait may cost as much
as $lO,OOO a day.
Why all this fuss about save the
Chesapeake? Well, it flows almost
mWA^AT4yAyA^ATA^
36’ Diameter SCS Approved Circular Manure Tank
past Washington, D.C.,’s front
door. Some believe that a lot of
congress members and representa
tives boat and fish in the Chesa
peake, and they want it clean. If tax
dollars are doled out for any
watershed program, they want to
see results.
And how does this affect us
along the lowly Pequea Creek, 80
nautical miles from the Chesa
peake? Well it’s part of the Sus
quehanna River Basin, which
drains 13 million acres and is home
to 3 million people. And this basin
supplies 50 percent of the Bay’s
fresh water. So the cleanup should
begin right here at home.
Saake gave the farmers a little
enlightenment He said that about
half of the sediment is plain dirt
And 40 percent of that came 20
years ago when hurricane Agnes
and its high swift water carried all
that into the Chesapeake. A por
tion of the nutrients, mainly nitro
gen and phosphorus, comes from
the farms.
(All the fence rows that farms
had 70 or so years ago held a lot of
runoff in check, but they are gone
now.)
Some nitrogen comes from
lightning storms and some comes
from engine emissions. And there
is a lot of development runoff.
Suddenly the droning of the
engine quit. Passengers glanced aft
and saw the captain checking the
engine using his fishing net pole
like a stethoscope. What was the
problem? It was making a clicking
sound. He added a quart of oil and
stepped back into the deck. The
motor was started again and the
boat began to move.
It was soon high noon, way past
dinner time, and stomachs were
growling.
Since all ate at an early hour,
thoughts were, “when do we eat?”
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Soon they were heading up the Jib sail came down, and the boom
Severin River. was lowered.
The Captain shouted, “Lower The boat entered the harbor. The
the main sail! ” First mate Earl took captain said this is ego alley. New
the rope off, the cleat tacklings boat owners like to strut back and
creaked, and down came the can- forth to show off their boats.
vas. All hands lined up along the Now came the best show of sea
boom to help furl it up. Then the manship, turning and docking the
gasket was passed up and rolled SB-foot boat in the 130-foot wide
out over the sail and made fast The (Turn to Pago E 2»)
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