Chesapeake Bay

Two people died and four were rescued in a boating accident on the Chesapeake Bay Saturday when their 25-foot boat capsized two miles south of Point Lookout State Park in St. Mary's County, according to Department of Natural Resources Police. Sgt. Brian Albert, a spokesman for the DNR police, said authorities were still on the scene and were trying to recover the boat. The victims were identified as two Lexington Park, Md., men - David Chase, 55, and David Fletcher, 43. "We think that the accident was due to rough seas, but we're not positive," Albert said.

With a new survey finding the Chesapeake Bay's crab population at its lowest level in five years after a poor spawn last year, Maryland officials announced Friday they would move to tighten catch limits on the region's iconic crustacean. The annual winter survey of Maryland and Virginia waters tallied 300 million crabs, the Department of Natural Resources reported. That's down nearly two-thirds from the number seen last year, when Gov. Martin O'Malley held a press conference at a crab house in Annapolis to declare crabs had rebounded from near-collapse in 2008 and were more plentiful than they'd been in nearly two decades.

The U.S. Coast Guard suspended a search of the Chesapeake Bay on Thursday for a vessel that sent out a distress call Wednesday evening. Coast Guard and local officials roamed 180 square miles over a 12-hour period, focusing on two places in the Bay where the call originated, in the mouth of the Choptank River and between Deale Beach and North Beach, Petty Officer Jason Stanley, a search and rescue controller working the case, said in a statement....

The Chesapeake Bay and its rivers have lost 44 percent of their underwater grasses over the past three years, scientists reported Thursday, reducing vital habitat for crabs and fish to a level not seen in nearly three decades. Scientists blamed weather and storms for much of the decline seen last year, but they said an as-yet unexplained long-term decline in the bay's water clarity has played havoc with this key indicator of the Chesapeake's health. An aerial survey flown from late spring to early fall last year found 48,191 acres of submerged vegetation, down 21 percent from the extent of grasses seen in 2011, according to scientists from Maryland and Virginia.

The Baltimore County Chamber of Commerce is member-driven, member-supported organization that has been the voice of business in Baltimore County since 1966. On behalf of our members, we have been following the impact of the stormwater fee legislation, passed by the state last year, which mandates Baltimore County to pass enabling legislation by July. A clean Chesapeake Bay is essential for all Marylanders and especially so for businesses in Baltimore County who depend on it for their livelihood.

Although by all accounts the Maryland legislature had a very productive session, legislators fell short in protecting the land that most sustains us - our farmland. While we applaud the successful defense of open space funding overall, for the second year in a row, both the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Fund and the Rural Legacy Program were slashed. This year they lost a combined $8.7 million. The trend and timing of these cuts is alarming. In addition to providing a host of benefits, starting with our food, farmland is central to meeting the Chesapeake Bay restoration goals to which Maryland, the Chesapeake Bay states and the District of Columbia have committed.

There has been much hue and cry in recent days about the General Assembly approving a "rain tax" this year that is punitive, anti-commerce and unnecessary. What's truly remarkable about these protestations is how none of the underlying claims are true. Rather, this may be a lesson in the perils of approving a policy at the state level but leaving the business of carrying it out to local government. It's far easier for county elected leaders to point a finger at Annapolis than to actually educate themselves on an issue - let alone try to explain why a tax is so clearly in their constituents' self-interest.

Having moved to Maryland two years ago, I've learned something about its people: Marylanders stand up for the Chesapeake Bay. A healthy bay underlies the regional economy and is a fundamental part of our rich heritage. Four decades ago, Congress took action to protect places like the bay with the passage of the hallmark Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. These laws protect the bay for crabbers, oystermen, sailors and swimmers alike, while also protecting characteristic Maryland wildlife like the piping plover and the Maryland darter.

Residents across the Baltimore region could soon be hit with annual bills of $18 to more than $100 to pay for stormwater treatment, wetland restoration and other projects aimed at improving Chesapeake Bay water quality. The fees, to be charged by localities starting this summer, have drawn complaints from local officials who object to the state mandate that requires the fees but also businesses and nonprofit organizations who estimate that, in some cases, their charges could be tens of thousands of dollars.

In Councilman David Marks' recent newsletter, he presented "facts" regarding Baltimore County's proposal to levy a storm water fee on properties throughout the county. However, he failed to provide any context. The federal government is requiring the states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to dramatically reduce the pollution that goes into the bay. Maryland is one of these. We are being required to reduce the nitrogen, phosphorous and sediment that is killing this beautiful estuary.