TITLE: Watermen Shun Fish From Tainted River
BYLINE: Peter S. Goodman
CREDIT: Washington Post Staff Writer
EST. PAGES: 2
DATE: 08/14/97
DOCID: WP1112225
SOURCE: The Washington Post; WP
EDITION: FINAL; SECTION: METRO; PAGE: D03
CATEGORY: NEWS MARYLAND
ORIGIN: SHELLTOWN, Md., Aug. 13
(Copyright 1997)
Watermen returned to the Pocomoke River this morning, after
more than four days of fish kills last week prompted state officials
to close the Eastern Shore waterway.
But while some tended crabs pots near the mouth of the river, none took in any fish. They don't trust what's going on beneath the surface.
"I ain't fishing in this river," said Ray Maddox,
whose family runs a wholesale seafood business, Maddox & Son,
in Shelltown, where the cornfields and chicken farms of the Eastern
Shore meet the water's edge. "I ain't fishing it until its
straightened up. There just ain't no profit in it. When you go
out and have to throw overboard 40 to 50 percent of your catch,
you just ain't using your head if you keep on doing it."
Little fishing gets done on the Pocomoke River at this time
of year anyway. Commercially valuable species such as rockfish
and croaker swim to deeper waters. Crabs are the prime water crop
now, and state scientists say crabs have not been affected by
whatever caused the fish kills.
Although some might consider Pocomoke fish damaged goods,
Maryland health authorities aren't requiring any special labeling
of fish from the river.
No recreational fishermen were in sight on the river today,
and as the watermen tended to their crab pots in the choppy brown
river, a now-familiar sense of gloom and unease held sway.
Since last fall, when watermen first noticed angry red
lesions on some of the fish they were catching, they wondered
if this might not be the development that would render an already
difficult livelihood impossible.
"You're helpless," said Lori Maddox, Ray Maddox's
wife. "You don't know when the next fish kill is going to
come. You don't have any control."
The Maryland Department of Natural Resources still isn't
sure what killed all the fish, but officials are investigating
Pfiesteria piscicida, which has been called the "cell from
hell."
Preliminary lab results from tests done in North Carolina,
where Pfiesteria is blamed for the deaths of a billion fish, show
that the microbe is present in the Pocomoke.
But officials say they need more conclusive data -- the
results of water analyses and tests on fish samples taken from
the river in recent weeks -- before they can say with certainty
what is responsible for the fish kills and the lesions found on
many fish taken from the Pocomoke.
State Department of Natural Resources officials reopened
the river at 5 a.m. today. But they said it was impossible to
tell whether there will be more fish kills.
For the watermen, threats to their livelihood are nothing
new. Growing industry and population have brought pollution, which
has reduced stocks. And overfishing and diseases have brought
limits on the watermen's catch.
The history of the local waterman is one of dwindling opportunities.
And now this.
"We've been banged pretty hard," said Jack Howard,
who would be busy tending to his crab pots on the Pocomoke if
the Natural Resources hadn't rented his boat.
"A lot of boys have gotten out of it," Howard
said. "There's not too many full-time watermen left."
A boat ride today downriver from Shelltown offered a glimpse
of what could have been any summer day. Buoys marking crab pots
lay like foam polka dots on the surface of the water, where the
river floats into Pocomoke Sound. Tall stakes mapped out the pound
nets, mazelike traps that funnel fish into central nets. A muggy
breeze bent the tall grasses that dominate the banks.
The Chesapeake, a 42-foot boat manned by environmentalists
from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, was finding no evidence of
new trouble. But that wasn't cause for celebration.
"If it happened once, what's not going to make it happen
again?" said Bart Jaeger, an environmental educator with
the foundation. " . . . I don't think the opening of the
river has brought any confidence back."
At the helm, captain Jackie McCready had more than the Pocomoke
on his mind as he scanned the river. "People are afraid that
whatever's affecting this river is going to spread out into the
bay."
By midday, a stiff wind was blowing upriver, cooling Ward
Walker and William Hall as they lifted wooden baskets of soft-shell
crabs from a dock into a pickup truck.
Before the state closed the river, Walker and Hall were
crabbing the shallow waters near Shelltown with watermen in a
half-dozen other boats, taking as much as $400 a day, they said.
With the Pocomoke closed, they moved along to the Pocomoke Sound.
Another river closing could make sales of crabs difficult,
Walker and Hall figured. The market could see their crabs as damaged
goods.
"They need to find out what the problem is and solve
that," Hall said. "That's our livelihood out there."
ART: PHOTO,,Salisbury Daily Times/theresa Blackwell
CAPTION: Waterman Eddie Johnson, of Marion, Md., examined a large-mouth bass caught yesterday in a crab pot. Lab reports show the microbe Pfiesteria piscicida is present in the Pocomoke river.
CAPTION: Letting Go:
Watermen Jason Daniels, left, and John Jones throw out their crab pots in the Pocomoke River near Shelltown, Md. Crabs are the main water crop at this time of year, and state scientists say crabs in the river haven't been affected by whatever caused last week's fish kills.
DESCRIPTORS: Eastern Shore; Water pollution; Fish; Fishing industry; Animal diseases; Rivers, streams, etc.; Microorganisms; ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS
ORGANIZATION: Pocomoke River; Maryland Department Of Natural Resources