October 8, 2015 — Watermen dredging the muddy bottom of the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries for oysters may not haul in the bounty that some recent years have produced, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources cautions as a new season gets underway.
“We’ve had good harvests the last couple years,” said Chris Judy, the department’s shellfish division director. But “we will no longer enjoy the spotlight on our oysters because other oysters are going to enter the market in a stronger way this year.”
The season kicked off Oct. 1, as it always does, but largely in name only. The same nor’easter that chewed at Delmarva’s beaches and rained out a weekend of activities at the beginning of the month kept most watermen off the water. But they were out in force after the skies cleared.
“It looks like we got the whole state of Maryland working on one bar off Tangier Island,” said Greg Price, a waterman based out of Chance in Somerset County. “I counted 55 boats this morning.”
Those freshly caught oysters are already finding their way into refrigerator cases.
“At first it was a little dreary because of the storm, but we’re booming now,” said Miranda Taylor, manager of Ocean Highway Seafood and Produce in Pocomoke City.
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