Maryland Coastal Bays
Separating Management of the Coastal Bays from the Chesapeake Bay
Category: Submerged
Cost: Minimal.
Description: Historically, the Chesapeake Bay has been managed
in the same fashion as the Coastal Bays, however, because the two estuaries
are vastly different ecologically, the Coastal Bays program submitted a bill
to the Maryland legislature to allow for the management of the two to be separated.
This would allow a separate management plan to be developed for the twenty-one
crab and fish species in the estuary.
Outcome: In 2000, a bill was introduced and passed both the
House and the Senate, but it was not able to make it out of Committee before
the session ended. The state is now managing the bays separately. The bill
will be submitted again this year. The bill, if passed, would allow changes
to shellfish, finfish, or crab regulations to be made by normal state protocols,
rather than by going to the legislature every time a change is needed.
Contact: Dave Blazer, Maryland Coastal Bays Program, director@mdcoastalbays.org
Citation: HB1144; SB 313.
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