Your BayStat Newsletter

From the desk of...
Martin O'Malley, Governor of Maryland

Governor O'Malley at the Blue Crab Fishery announcement earlier this year.

With my approval, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is taking steps to eliminate the 9-day female blue-crab harvest closure period that runs from September 26 through October 4 for the 2010 season. We have been greatly encouraged by the blue crab population increases that resulted from the tough decisions and science-based strategy we implemented in 2008, and we are pleased that we are now able to make this conservative adjustment

one that will expand opportunities for watermen, while also maintaining safe harvest levels. We also remain optimistic that by following the science and proceeding with caution, we will ultimately achieve a thriving, sustainable blue crab fishery that will provide jobs and support our working families for the long term.

The new blue crab strategy we put in place in 2008 is only one of the many actions we have taken to reduce pollution and increase Bay restoration. One of our first actions after coming into office was to create BayStat to help us better track, target and increase accountability for state efforts to restore the Chesapeake Bay, and to make full information open to the public through this newsletter and the BayStat website. We established a new ranking system for land acquisition and refocused the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program.

With our colleagues in the General Assembly, we created the Chesapeake Bay 2010 Trust Fund to provide funding for the most cost-effective water quality benefits, and increased funding for winter cover crops, the most effective way to reduce the amount of nutrients reaching the Bay from agricultural operations. We strengthened protection of the fragile Critical Area along the borders of the Bay. The Stormwater Management Act of 2007 and revised urban permits have improved the way we manage stormwater - letting it soak into the ground naturally instead of speedily carrying pollutants directly into the rivers and streams that feed into the Bay.

All of these actions and many others are part of the strategy that has started producing results, including the dramatic increase in blue crab abundance and expansion of Bay grasses

critical to the health of crabs, fish and wildlife

for the third year in a row. Restoration of the Chesapeake Bay is one of my highest priorities as Governor, and I will continue to do all I can to see that it becomes once again a vibrant, healthy Bay for ourselves, our children, and theirs.

Sincerely,