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Overview of the history of Chesapeake Bay pollution essay
Overview of the history of Chesapeake Bay pollution essay
Impacts of pollution on the chesapeake bay
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If someone is a native of Maryland, they know exactly what one is talking about when the Maryland Blue Crab is brought up into a discussion. In 1989, the Maryland Blue Crab, scientifically known as the Callinectes sapidus Rathbun, was designated the State Crustacean (Blue Crab, Maryland State Crustacean). This crab is not only a key component on the ecological system of the Chesapeake Bay, but also a key economical component of commercial fisheries; although not endangered, the issue of maintaining the population of the species is critical to the Chesapeake Bay and also its inhabitants.
Blue crabs have the highest value of any Chesapeake Bay commercial fishery; in 2000, the blue crab harvest was valued at a staggering $55 million (Blue Crabs – Chesapeake Bay Program). For Maryland locals, the importance of crabs during the summer months is bigger than any other issues; summer days are spent at picnic tables picking away at the hard shells of the steamed morsels. During these months, commercial fisherman are up before the sun rises, riding along checking their lines and baskets in the bay in hopes of a good yield of the crustaceans to bring back to sell later that day. In fact, an estimated one third of the nation’s catch of blue crabs come directly from Maryland’s own Chesapeake Bay (Blue Crabs – Chesapeake Bay Program).Therefore, sustaining the population of crabs is essential in the success of the businesses that rely on the income from selling them, and also to the people who consume the crabs frequently. At the same time, the constant pressure on harvesting the crabs for income has created an issue. Since the early 90’s, yield of crabs has decreased, resulting in an increase of efforts to meet the demands of the business of co...
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...unced as off limit to commercial fishing to help aid in the rehabilitation of the population of the crustacean (Blue Crabs – Chesapeake Bay Program). Scientists and environmentalists are constantly fighting to prevent run-off and counteract the nitrogen jumps. With coming years, hopefully better ways to save the crab will be discovered.
The Maryland Blue Crab is an essential part of the Chesapeake Bay; from the food chain of the creatures in the water, to the business side of the thriving demand for the crab during the hot summer months, but there is no denying the fact that the crab is just as important alive as it is when it is being harvested by local fisherman. By becoming more informed of the impact the crab has on Maryland’s bay and on the people who live around it, people can take bigger steps in making sure the crab will always be around for decades to come.
Television commercials, print ads, and billboards in the Washington, DC, area are asking residents to connect two things many might find unrelated: lawn care and seafood. In one commercial, a man stuffs a big plateful of grass in his mouth after a voice-over says, “Spring rains carry excess lawn fertilizers through our sewers and rivers and into the Chesapeake Bay, where the blue crab harvest has been extremely low. So skip the fertilizer until fall, because once they’re gone, what’s left to enjoy?”(Environment, p. 7)
The Chesapeake Bay means ‘Great shellfish Bay’ in Algonquin(Chesapeake Bay Foundation 2010). The bay was once plentiful with Oysters dating back...
Being found in a Mid-Atlantic state but south of the Mason Dixon line Maryland can lay claim to a blend of Northern and Southern American traditions. Maryland has been influenced by English, American, and African American cuisine. Seafood is a prime ingredient in Maryland cuisine and is also the state's primary food product. Harvesting seafood in the Chesapeake Bay dates back to the Indians. Many Indians preserved their catches for winter by salting or smoking them. Chesapeake Bay oysters have been eaten for centuries. The Patuxent River has been an importan...
The Chesapeake Bay is the nation’s largest estuary with six major tributaries, the James, the Potomac, the Susquehanna, the Patuxent, the York, and the Rappahannock Rivers, feeding into the bay from various locations in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia (Chemical Contaminants in the Chesapeake Bay – Workshop Discussion 1). These areas depend on the Bay as both an environmental and an economic resource. Throughout the last 15 years the Chesapeake Bay has suffered from elevated levels of pollution. Nitrogen and phosphorous from wastewater treatment plants, farmland, air pollution, and development all lead to reduced water clarity and lowered oxygen levels, which harm fish, crabs, oysters and underwater grasses (Key Commission Issues 1). There are other types of pollution in the bay such as toxic chemicals, but because nutrient pollution is the most significant and most widespread in the Bay its effects are the most harmful to fisheries. Nitrogen and phosphorous fuel algal blooms which cloud the water and block sunlight from reaching underwater grass beds that provide food and habitat for waterfowl, juvenile fish, blue crabs, and other species (Blankenship 11-12). Algae plays a vital role in the food chain by providing food for small fish and oysters. However, when there is an overabundance of algae it dies, sinks to the bottom of the Bay, and decomposes in such a manner that depletes the oxygen levels of the Bay (11). The reduced oxygen levels in the Bay reduce the carrying capacity of the environment and these “dead areas” sometimes kill off species that can not migrate to other areas of the Bay, such as oysters (11). Increased abundance of algal blooms also led to the overabundance of harmful and toxic algae species and microbes such as the microbe Pfiesteria, which was responsible in 1997 for eating fish alive and making dozens of people sick (12). The heightened awareness of diseases that can be contracted through consumption of contaminated fish also has an economic impact. Therefore, the excess levels of nitrogen and phosphorous have fueled an overabundance of algal blooms, which has reduced water clarity and lowered oxygen levels, affecting many species within the bay and ultimately the industries that rely on these species.
The Chesapeake Bay is a large estuary located on the east coast of the United States. The bay is over 200 miles long and goes through Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. The bay has much to offer the locals. Many locals have made a career out of harvesting the bay's sea food. The bay's harvest and many of its other attractions bring tourists and in turn revenue for the area. Oysters and blue crab are a big part of the culture in the bay area. However, these organisms are in danger and need help.
It was a long journey, but the promise od succes drove them forward. English settlers have finally arrived in Chesapeake bay. They came to establish Britians first permanent settlement, in hopes of finding riches and establishing trade. They thought the new land had so much promise, but fortune they did not. The Natives were hostile, disease killed many, and the droughtmade getting food harder to do. It would be hartimes for Jamestown indeed.
The Chesapeake Bay is a large bay that stretches from Maryland to Virginia, fed by many rivers and streams that run from as far north as New York to Virginia and West Virginia.5 It is home to a plethora of plants and fish species, many of which the people of the area fish for food and supplies. The pollution present in the Chesapeake Bay is affecting the livelihood of both the fishermen and the fish – the less the fishermen haul due to the death of the species they catch, the less they get paid – and as consumers of these fish, we are consuming the toxins as well.
Species such as the blue crab, oyster, and atlantic menhaden are three main commercial fishing outputs in the Chesapeake bay, but the recent algae blooms are devastating the harvest numbers of several different species. According to the oyster company of Virginia, over 20 million bushels of oysters were harvested every year during the peak of the oyster rush of the mid 1880’s. These numbers
Explanation: Develop a brochure to help the public understand all about the Chesapeake Bay (history, economic importance, environmental importance, pollution, solutions)
Mytilus Californianus are known as California mussels that form dense mussel beds and considered one of the most abundant intertidal organisms. They are found clustered together in the upper-middle zone on the open coast. Mytilus Californianus attach themselves to rocks by byssal threads. They have geographic range from the Aleutian Islands of Alaska to northern Mexico of Baja California (Morris et al. 1980). “It provides habitat, refuge, and provides food for over 300 other species” including human (rust, 2011). For long period of time, human use these mussels as a food source. These mussels can grow up to 130 to 150mm in size but the process usually is attained in three years. Scientists
Researchers at the Alfred- Wegener- Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven, Germany have recently published a peer-reviewed article about the effects of temperature and ocean acidification on the calcium content of young spider crab larvae, Hyas araneus. Kathleen Walther, Franz J. Sartoris, and Hans O. Pörtner decided to research these effects to determine if the continued temperature and acidification of the oceans will have a negative effect on the spider crabs development. Furthermore, the researchers measured the calcium content in each larvae of crab at different temperatures and CO2 content. For the spider crabs, the calcium levels they have are crucial for development of their exoskeleton. Lower levels of calcium in the crab could be detrimental to the development of it because of
To fish or not to fish is a personal choice. The fact that the oceans are being overfished is a growing concern for individuals, organizations, and governments throughout the world. In this paper I want to discuss the effects of overfishing on the restaurant industry, and possible solutions to solve the problem. Fishing is an ongoing source of food for people around the world. In many countries it is a food staple in their everyday diet. In more modern societies eating fish has become a sensual experience, and not just for the wealthy. It hasn't been until population explosions in the last century that the demand for seafood has led to more effective fishing techniques and technologies. Now the demand for popular fish like the salmon, tuna, sea bass, cod and hoki, which is the key fish in McDonalds filet o' fish, is diving wild populations to dangerously low levels. The methods used to catch the amount of fish demanded by the industry do not leave sustainable populations in the wild. In an attempt to preserve the fish population, governments have set limits on the minimum size that may be harvested and how many of each may be taken. Boundaries have been set up saying which areas can be fished and which ones should be left alone. A number of smaller fisheries have gone out of business because of the limits imposed by the government. This leads to even less fish being harvested and brought to market. Therefore the amount and varieties of fish at markets are smaller and can cause shortages for wholesalers and restaurants. Some restaurants will no longer have the variety on their menus that they used to enjoy. If a restaurant thrives on its seafood menu they may be unable to cope with the shortages and will go out of business. In the ...
Are you a big fan of seafood? Delicious creamy crab cakes,golden under the sunlight and sprinkled with chives. Unlike most crab cakes, this one’s aroma could be smelled from miles and miles around. Or maybe seafood just isn't for you. Then you could take a trip way back, so long ago and visit historical landmarks and historical people. Also known as America in Miniature, Maryland contains many surprises. Full of fun facts and unique places, Maryland is the place for you.
However, the Boiling Crab has already penetrated the market in California with the proper level of price. The restaurant business cannot charge the price far more different than the others because in the same level of restaurant, the clients will focus on the range of price before choosing it. Moreover, the Boiling Crab is the seafood, so the market price of seafood, such as shrimp, lobster, crab is very fluctuate depended on how difficult to find each item at that time. As you can see from the Boiling Crab menu, these items will be charged according to the market price at that time. Referring to the appendix 1, I compare price of food from many restaurants with the same kind of food, but it turns out that the level of price is pretty much the same between the Boiling Crab and the Kickin’crab.
Fish, they have been the subject of their own fish genocide, Each year consistently advancing in technology to hunt the remaining percentage of this dwindling vertebrate. A local maine Lobsterman visited our class to talk about what laws and regulations have been placed to try and refurbish the population. The lobsterman talked about the decline of fish over the years he’s been in the fishing industry. To my surprise the Gulf of Maine actually has had many regulations. One of the recent is implementing a maximum of three mackerel for every trip, and cod fish now must be at least 21 inches or be thrown back. These regulations show us what is left of the nature population that once inhabited the gulf. They say you could walk on water because there was so