Seafood Industry

WASHINGTON -- The recovery of Maryland's seafood industry from the scare caused by an outbreak of toxic Pfiesteria piscicida two years ago is only tentative, and the industry could easily be threated by another occurrence, according to a University of Delaware survey released yesterday.The survey, conducted in fall 1998, shows that nearly two-thirds of the residents of the mid-Atlantic region believe that seafood is unsafe to eat because of Pfiesteria outbreaks, and that more than half said they would cut their consumption of local seafood if an outbreak occurred in their state's waters.

CRISFIELD -- Anybody who is anybody in Maryland politics -- and plenty more who want to be somebody in Maryland politics -- converged yesterday on the seafood capital of the Lower Eastern Shore.Up to their elbows in Old Bay, almost 5,000 visitors wielded crab mallets at the 23rd J. Millard Tawes Crab and Clambake, a shindig that raises as much as $70,000 for the local Chamber of Commerce and for one day each summer turns the waterfront town of 2,700 into ground zero for campaign-style schmoozing, even in a nonelection year.

If any food nourishes Maryland's heart and soul, it is the meat of the Atlantic blue crab.For generations, Marylanders have formed it into crab cakes and used it in soup. They have stuffed it in rockfish and served it in crab salad. It is so much a part of Maryland's identity that Callinectes sapidus, the "beautiful swimmer" of Chesapeake Bay fame, has been designated the official state crustacean.But before you order a crab cake at a local restaurant, you might want to know there's an excellent chance the meat is not from American waters and is not Atlantic blue crab.

The first time Doug Schmick set eyes on Baltimore was a year and a half ago.Immediately, the restaurateur vowed to come back."I was just really taken with it," said Schmick, who with partner Bill McCormick operates a chain of seafood restaurants that stretch from coast to coast.Yesterday, the two added Baltimore to their growing list of eateries -- now 20 strong -- opening a McCormick & Schmick's Seafood Restaurant at Pier V in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.The pairing of their seafood -- which started with Jake's Famous Crawfish restaurant in Portland, Ore. -- and a Baltimore location seemed a perfect match, said Schmick, 50."

GROCERY STORES refusing to carry Chesapeake seafood because of Pfiesteria fear aren't helping matters.Reducing stocks of local seafood if buyers are not buying is understandable. But it is self-serving and irresponsible to refuse to stock bay products when scientists -- including the foremost expert on the Pfiesteria microbe -- say it is perfectly safe to eat a healthy-looking fish, crab or oyster. Some groceries have gone so far as to post signs saying they no longer buy Maryland seafood, which amounts to announcing, ''Maryland seafood is unsafe.

A fear with no basis in scientific fact has continued to ravage Maryland's seafood industry, causing hardship for people as diverse as watermen and chefs.Despite continued pronouncements that eating Maryland seafood is safe, numerous grocery store chains, small fish markets, wholesalers and restaurants reported yesterday that seafood sales have declined up to 70 percent since the microorganism Pfiesteria piscicida was identified in Chesapeake Bay tributaries.The state will begin a $500,000 TV and print advertising campaign next week in an attempt to counter myths and restore confidence in the safety of the $400 million-a-year industry.

It happens so fast.A 12-pound rockfish grabs the angler's bait, bending the rod into an arch as the fish makes its run for survival. The line leaps from the reel in a battle between man and fish that may last three or four minutes.Landing a trophy rock is the ultimate achievement of a Chesapeake Bay fisherman.Eating it is another story.Some seafood lovers across the country have lost their appetite for rockfish and other bay delicacies because of Pfiesteria piscicida, a fish-killing microbe that is suspected of making those working in infested waters ill, and prompting the state to close parts of three tributaries on the lower Eastern Shore.

The Food and Drug Administration's seafood safety research is moving to the Columbus Center in Baltimore, a consolidation that will bring at least 24 of the government's top seafood scientists to the state-of-the-art marine research facility."

A crackdown by Maryland Natural Resources Police on shipments of small crabs to Maryland from New Jersey and North Carolina has upset seafood processors, who complain the tough stance threatens their industry's survival amid a dismal Chesapeake Bay catch this summer.Seafood processors, shippers and watermen met Wednesday night in Cambridge with state Department of Natural Resources officials to air their concerns over the enforcement dragnet, which has resulted in fines exceeding $65,000 for illegally imported crabs.

Gov. Parris N. Glendening agreed last night to change his proposed crabbing restrictions in a bid to ease the economic bite on Maryland watermen.Officials said the changes still would protect Chesapeake Bay's blue crab population, which has been under pressure in recent years, raising fears that the species is in danger of depletion.Responding to complaints from watermen and seafood industry officials, the governor agreed to amend his original proposal, which called for barring commercial and recreational crabbing two days a week this fall, starting Friday.

Proposals to use a foreign species to restore the Chesapeake Bay's depleted oyster population were essentially scrapped Monday as state and federal governments agreed to focus on bringing back the native oyster. Maryland, Virginia and federal agencies announced that they remain "fully committed" to using only native oysters, even in trying to help rebuild the bay's seafood industry. Using non-native oysters poses "unacceptable ecological risks," officials said. The decision ends years of debate about whether to introduce an Asian oyster into the bay and concludes nearly five years of formal study, costing $17 million in state and federal funds.

Maryland's blue crab season opened officially this month with some skittering apprehensions. Not only are Chesapeake Bay hard crabs expected to be in short supply but consumer demand for such a premium product may prove soft given the country's economic realities. But those concerns will be a trifle for the local seafood industry if Congress fails to extend the guest worker program for another season. Most of the state's 22 crab processing plants depend on roughly 600 foreign workers to pick crabs.

FISHING CREEK -For nearly 20 years, this tiny watermen's village on Hoopers Island has been enlivened each spring by the arrival of several dozen Mexicans - women who bring with them tortillas and tamales, mariachi music and the hands that make the local economy go. They do the dirty work of Maryland's seafood industry, spending long days picking the premium lump meat out of the blue crab - work that the men who run the seafood processing plants that...

Two leading environmental groups voiced their support yesterday for trying to revive the Chesapeake Bay's native oyster rather than introducing Asian oysters into the estuary. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the Nature Conservancy said they believe that native oyster restoration still holds promise - both ecologically and for the seafood industry - and does not pose the risks associated with putting Asian oysters into the bay. "Given the available information, the combination of native oyster aquaculture and enhanced native restoration clearly provides the best potential for progress with the least amount of risk," said foundation President William C. Baker.

Between the protests of watermen over new harvest restrictions and the high cost of a dozen steamed jimmies at a restaurant table, most Marylanders are well aware of the decline of the treasured Chesapeake Bay blue crab. But the decision by the U.S. commerce secretary to declare the fishery a commercial failure this week can only serve to underscore this unsettling reality. What will it mean for watermen? Some may soon be eligible for financial assistance from the federal government - if Congress appropriates the money to pay for it. That should mean a greater investment in such alternative employment as shellfish aquaculture projects and rebuilding the bay's oyster beds.

Federal wildlife officials are investigating whether three Crisfield crab processors, watermen and others in the Maryland and Virginia seafood industry have been involved in the widespread sale of undersized soft-shell crabs - possibly marketing the young blue crabs on Internet sites. Agents from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, backed by Maryland Natural Resources Police and the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, raided the three crab houses Sept. 7, authorities confirmed yesterday.

Fish farming will not destroy natural fisheries The Sun's editorial "Wiping out watermen" (Aug. 23) was misleading. The Bush administration proposal to permit fish farms in federal marine waters is designed to complement, not eliminate, the commercial and recreational fisheries that depend on fish wild stocks. While it is true that some U.S. marine fish stocks are overfished, plans are in place to reduce fishing levels in the short term, and progress is being made in rebuilding those stocks.

HOOPER'S ISLAND - In the seasonal rhythm of life on this slice of land dangling alongside the Chesapeake Bay, the first days of the commercial crab season are marked by anticipation. No one will be catching any crabs until temperatures rise a bit, but the crab pots are ready - repaired, painted and neatly stacked. The decks of low-slung work boats are scrubbed. Diesel engines are fine-tuned. At the crab processing houses, industrial-sized crab steamers and stainless steel picking tables are gleaming.

Maryland seafood processors and advocates for the Hispanic community are working together to solve a labor shortage that could cripple the summer crab-picking season. The seafood processors learned last month that most of the temporary workers who have picked crabs and shucked oysters for more than a decade would not be able to return to their seasonal jobs this year. The workers are being denied entry because of a nationwide limit that Congress established for the number of seasonal working permits, known as H-2B visas.

RON FRANKS, Maryland's secretary of natural resources, talks frequently about Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.'s commitment to restore the Chesapeake Bay based on "good science." So it is ironic that Franks' agency, faced with one of the biggest bay decisions ever, is pursuing a course that has universally dismayed scientists across the Chesapeake region. The controversy, as The Sun's Rona Kobell reported last week, involves whether to let loose an Asian oyster, Crassostrea ariakensis, in the Chesapeake.