Sustainable is a word we here often today in regards to seafood. It means that certain seafood species can be responsibly harvested and their population numbers are strong and they should be available for the future. Here on the Eastern Shore we have a number of species that are deemed sustainable. These include:
Striped bass, sea bass, flounder, croaker, spot, black drum, kingfish, skate, dolphin, blue crab, sea clams, oysters, and hard clams.
Aquaculture
Farming or manipulating the growth cycle of a fish or
shellfish is called aquaculture. There are several shellfish operations which
cultivate hard clams and oysters, located on both the seaside and bayside of
the Eastern Shore. Most of these shellfish farms raise product for retail and
restaurant sectors of the market.
Probably the oldest and most successful form of
aquaculture is soft shell crab shedding. There are very large shedding
operations throughout the Chesapeake side of the peninsula with the largest
found in Crisfield and Deal Island. Often you can buy soft crabs packed to go
right from the watermen at their “crab shanty” shedding operations.
Eastern Shore Commercial Fishing Techniques
Commercial fishermen, known as watermen on the
Eastern Shore, use a variety of techniques and gear in capture fisheries.
Depending on the season, weather conditions, targeted species and even market
fluctuations, watermen will employ various methods to harvest crabs, fish or
shellfish. Below is brief outline of how local fish are harvested from the
Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean.
NET GEAR
Gillnetting – The easiest way to
describe a gill net is to think of a volleyball net suspended in the water.
These nets, which average 300 feet long can be suspended in the water column
from the bottom to just below the surface. The ends of the nets are often
marked by floats with colorful flags, letting boaters know that there is a
submerged net between the markers. The net can be anchored to catch fish along
the bottom or allowed to drift, suspended by floats located along the top line
of the net. Weights along the bottom line keep it taught. Gill nets got their
name because when they are retrieved by the large spindle type of device on a
boat, the fish caught in the net are suspended by their “gills.” Gill
net fishing is heavily regulated for mesh size, seasons of use, attendance and
area of use. Target species for gill nets, in both the ocean or bay, include
croaker, spot, striped bass, weakfish, black drum, bluefish, menhaden and
monkfish.
Pound Net – This type of fishing is based on
ancient native American methods of harvesting migrating or feeding fish. Pound
nets are “anchored” from the shoreline and feed out into deeper
waters. The net system is framed by long, sturdy poles set in the bottom and
used to keep the net upright. A long single feeder net line leads out to a
“heart” shaped area where the fish become confused and will then
enter the “pound” or capture area of the net. Watermen in boats check
the net daily to harvest the fish trapped in the “pound” section of
the net system. Pound nets are labor intensive, but effective. They work on the
simple premise that moving fish will always seek deeper water when faced with
an obstacle. Target fish include spot, croaker, black drum, weakfish, flounder,
menhaden, and striped bass, among others.
CRAB GEAR
Crab Pot -The most ubiquitous type
of crab harvesting gear used by Eastern Shore watermen is the crab pot.
Invented in the 1930’s at Crisfield, the crab pot has remained the most
effective tool to harvest blue crabs. This 3 ft. x 3ft. wire box shaped trap is
called a pot, and includes several openings, a bait “pocket” and
escape openings (cull rings) for small fish and juvenile crabs. An iron rebar
frame anchors the crab pot on the bottom in an upright position. Crab pots can
be fished individually or on a long line or rope. Pots are baited with
menhaden, razor clams or eel. Crab pots have colorful marker buoys that allow
identification by the owner out on the open water. Smaller mesh sized crab pots
baited with fish or male crabs are used to catch primarily soon to be molting
peeler crabs.
Trot Line – This type of harvesting
device is primarily used in tidal rivers where wire crab pots are not allowed.
A trot line consists of a long heavy line that is anchored on the bottom and
dozens of drop lines called “snoods” are attached. These snoods hold
bait such as eel, salted fish and even bull lips. Trot lines are retrieved
periodically throughout the day by an electric winch on the boat. As the line
comes over the gunwale of the boat, the crabs are captured by the waterman
using a dip net. Seasons usually run from April through November.
Crab Scrape – Is a bottom dredge
primarily used to harvest crabs which are about to begin their shedding or
molting stage. These crabs are known as peelers and are harvested and then transported
to shedding tanks, which induce them to molt and turn into delicious soft
crabs. Crab scrapes are used by shallow draft boats that work near grass lined
shorelines. These are natural hiding areas for crabs nearing their molting
stage.
Bank Trap – As the name implies bank
traps are similar in design and technique to a fish pound net. Bank traps catch
crabs that move along a submerged wire fence line forcing them into a large
square wire enclosure which is the end game for the crabs.
SHELLFISH GEAR
Patent Tong – This mechanical device
is used to harvest oysters from the bottom along natural occurring
“bars.” They are similar in design to the clawed devices used in
boardwalk arcade games to grab small stuffed toys or other useless things. But
patent tongs are more honest in nature and allow watermen to harvest oysters
from the bottom in a safe manner. Lowered by hydraulics from a pivotal
“boom,” the patent tong grabs oysters off the bottom which are then
leveraged up and spilled onto a culling board. Patent tongs received their name
from the “patent” that was issued for their invention at Crisfield in
1891.
Hand Tongs – The use of hand tongs
is not for the feint of heart. These manual labor devices are used to harvest
oysters from the bottom using sheer strength and intrepidness. The tongs are
made of a hard wood and have an average length of 20 feet long. Operated like a
“scissor,” tongs are lowered into the water to hand haul oysters up
from the bottom. Due to the nature of this back breaking work, hand tong use is
a dying trade.
Power Dredge – This is probably the
most effective oyster harvesting device employed around the Eastern Shore. The
power dredge is lowered from a boat and pulled along the bottom to
“drudge” up oysters. Boats will take a “lick” pulling the
dredge across oyster bars specially dedicated to this effective harvesting
method. The dredge itself is made of iron and has a metal chain mesh catch bag
to hold the caught oysters.
Skip jacks, the iconic last sailing fishing
vessels still operating in the United States, use a similar device to take a
“lick” of the bottom to harvest oysters. But they use the power of
sail to move the dredge across the bar.
Clam Dredging – Both hard clams and
soft clams are sometimes harvested using a conveyor belt hydraulic dredge. The
conveyor belt device is lowed into the water and a water hose is utilized to
“blow” clams located on the sand bottom onto the moving dredge. The
conveyor belt then moves the clams up out of the water and past a waiting
waterman who culls the catch.
Hard shell clams can also be “hand
harvested” by using rakes or wading sand flats to dig up clams. Both
methods are effective, but labor intensive.
OCEAN FISHING GEAR
Gill Net – These types of nets are
primarily used to intercept migrating schools of fish such as monk fish,
bluefish, striped bass and croaker. Depending of their mesh size various sizes
of fish can be harvested. Gill nets can be employed at various water depths
depending on target species. Gill net activity usually takes place in early
spring and fall months.
Long Line – Long line fishing is a
very effective way to harvest large pelagic (migratory) species of fish found
offshore. Long lines, as the name implies can be several miles long and employ
the use of suspended baited hooks, which can reach the thousands depending on
the size of the long line. Target species include tunas, dolphin, mako shark,
and the highly prized swordfish. Ocean city has a few of these boats in
operation.
Trawler Net – Large ocean going fishing
boats, often called trawlers, deploy a net which is pulled through the water
column by large spreader bars. These nets come in various sizes and mesh size
depending on target species and regulations. These nets can be fished close to
the bottom or near mid-level in the waters. Most Eastern Shore trawlers fish
for flounder, spot, croaker, bluefish, menhaden, and squid. Some of these boats
are nomadic, following fish migrations and various state fishing seasons.
Traps – Bottom traps are deployed to
harvest both lobster and fish off the Eastern Shore. Lobster traps are set in
far offshore areas around the “canyons.” Baited lobster traps are
fished in waters up to 300 feet deep and strung out on “trot” line
type of arrangements.
Traps are also utilized to catch fish such as
sea bass, tautog and triggerfish. Baited traps, which are similar in design to
lobster traps, are fished on the bottom in deep offshore waters. Sometimes the
sea bass are sold “alive” to fish markets in large urban areas.
Bottom trap type devices are also used to catch
smooth and knobbed whelk, often called conch in this area. These slow moving
snail creatures move close inshore during the cooler months and are caught in
wood or wire “open face” traps using horseshoe crab or skate wings
for bait. They are sold primarily to ethnic markets in the US and overseas.