Letters to the Editor
On Crabs: If We Can’t Catch Them, Farm Them
Dear Bay Weekly:
“On the crab front, it’s not a happy anniversary,” (Bill Burton: Vol. XI, No. 24) confirms the universal law that with increased Chesapeake Bay population comes a bigger demand, resulting in diminishing crab and oyster harvests caused by over-harvesting until one day there is nothing left to catch except horseshoe crabs and jellyfish.
Perhaps the solution would be for the commercial crabbers to unite and initiate a cooperative with some form of state and federal aid for creating crab farms around the Bay. Far-fetched? There are salmon, catfish and shrimp farms. Why not crab and oyster?
Even with crabbing restrictions, the number of crabs will eventually be so few that it will not be worth while for commercial fishermen to catch them. If they catch any, the price will be prohibitive. Imagine if we had to depend on hunting wild turkeys for our Thanksgiving dinners. Many plates would be empty or hold another bird (or meat).
Yes, Bill Burton, the times when crabs were plentiful are over. “Those were the days, my friend, we thought they’d never end” when in the early 1960s, I could have large crabs for less than $4 a dozen near Turkey Point Marina.
By promoting crab farming, Bay Weekly’s mission to explore ways to improve our world will be kept alive and the dream, where people can enjoy a high quality of life for generations to come, realized.
For many of us, a high quality of life includes “the simplest pleasures that most please,” which, among others, is having plenty of affordable crabs to enjoy with friends.
— Eddie Tecumseh Yo, Davidsonville
Stuver — and Bay Weekly — Impress
Dear Bay Weekly:
Karolyn Stuver’s article on the impressionist artists [“Art Comes Out in the Open”: Vol. XI, No. 26, June 19] is wonderful! She captures the spirit of these young artists and the growing, evolving impressionist movement in this area. Thank you for providing a forum for well-researched, well-written, historical and topical articles like this.
— Cynthia McBride: McBride Gallery, Annapolis
Dear Bay Weekly:
As one of the artists Karolyn Stuver interviewed for the article on impressionist artists [“Art Comes Out in the Open”: Vol. XI, No. 26, June 19], I was impressed. Each artist got to have her own voice, and Stuver was very accurate in her representation of me. I know most of the other artists and I’m sure she wrote accurately of them as well. I appreciate her professionalism.
I think your paper puts our community in focus in a way that brings to life what is going around in and around Annapolis. That’s a valuable contribution. From your stories to your calendar listings to ads that are worth reading to 101 things you can do for summer, we need this kind of thing.
— Jean Brinton Jaecks, Millersville
Department of Corrections
On the cover of Vol. XI, No. 26 (June 19) the man holding both fisherman Brighton Ditter and a rockfish was misidentified. He is Captain David Adams of Washington, D.C.
In the same issue, the photos illustrating Sonia Linebaugh’s story “Celebrate the Solstice by Keeping Track of Old Sol” are courtesy of Frans Maes at www.biol.rug.nl/maes. Frans Maes is a biophysicist in the department of biology at Groningen University in the Netherlands.
We welcome your letters and opinions. We will edit when necessary. Include your name, address and phone number for verification. Mail them to Bay Weekly, P.O. Box 358, Deale, MD 20751 • E-mail them to us at [email protected].
