Rescuing a Protein Factory

New plans are under way to save a great bay from pollutants

The Chesapeake has always attracted superlatives. Captain John Smith, who first entered the bay in 1608, was so taken with the "fruitful and delightsome" place that he declared, "Heaven and earth never agreed better to frame a place for man's habitation." H.L. Mencken, Baltimore's celebrated sage, was so impressed by the bay's rich marine life that he labeled it "an immense protein factory."

Both descriptions are accurate. Stretching nearly 200 miles from its northern end at the Susquehanna flats to its southern end at the Virginia capes, only 30 miles wide at its broadest point, the Chesapeake has long been a source of almost overwhelming natural abundance. Geese, black ducks, mallard, teal and widgeon have darkened the skies over the bay and fattened themselves in its marshes. Striped bass, shad and herring spawn in its shallow bays. Oysters, clams and the succulent Atlantic blue crab provide the bay's hardy watermen with a livelihood and gourmets with seafood delights.

But this bounty and the bay itself are now threatened. Watermen have been saying for years that the Chesapeake is dying. Now others are confirming their complaint. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, after making a $28 million six-year study, concluded in 1983 that the Chesapeake is clearly an ecosystem in decline. Says Maryland Governor Harry Hughes: "Time is running out for the Chesapeake. If we do not take action to save the bay, there may be no point in taking it tomorrow; it may be too late."

President Reagan concurs. Visiting with crabbers at the bay's Tilghman Island last week, he noted the deteriorating condition of the Chesapeake and, without specifying what he or his Administration would do, acknowledged that "the time for action is now."

His concern is timely. Fish catches have been dropping dramatically. The haul of shad, which topped the 17 million-lb. mark in the late 19th century, dropped below 2.5 million Ibs. during the late '70s, and in 1980 Maryland banned all shad fishing. Striped bass are also disappearing. In 1973 fishermen sold 5 million Ibs. of stripers, or rockfish, as they are called in Maryland. Last year's harvest was under 400,000 Ibs.

The Chesapeake still produces some 50 million Ibs. of crab meat a year, more than that of all other U.S. areas combined. But oyster catches, which produced an astonishing 120 million Ibs. of meat annually in the 19th century, stabilized at about one-sixth that level some 20 years ago. In 1982-83 the tonnage dropped even further when a mysterious and fatal disease called MSX ravaged the crop.

Larry Simns, President of the Maryland Waterman's Association, says that declining catches are forcing him and his fellow fishermen out of business. As Tilghman Islander William Roulette points out, "We all must work part-time ashore." The Chesapeake fleet of skipjacks, sail-driven oyster dredges, has dropped from more than 100 boats to 30; the number of working watermen has shrunk from 7,500 in the '50s to about 5,000.