Department of Natural Resources officials rejected the commercial oyster industry’s proposed sanctuary changes, but did agree to power dredge study area changes. Governor Martin O’Malley’s oyster restoration plan, which expanded the state’s sanctuaries from 9 to 25 percent of the remaining good oyster bottom, became effective September 6. Watermen support sanctuaries, but not the plan, which they say threatens their livelihood.

In an emergency meeting on August 30, the chairmen of the state’s 11-county oyster committee reached a consensus set of changes and proposed them to the DNR. DNR Secretary John Griffin told the watermen in an August 26 letter he would consider the changes if they met certain conditions. In a subsequent letter September 17, Griffin outlined the reasons the department rejected the industry’s proposal.

Overall, the watermen’s proposal would have meant 7.5 fewer oyster bars, a 9-percent reduction in sanctuaries and a harvest impact reduction of 20-percent. And while a few counties came close to meeting the criteria for change, no county satisfied all the criteria, Griffin wrote. Of the nine counties that proposed changes, only Dorchester County’s proposal maintained the same amount of oyster habitat, according to the department. Only Kent and Calvert Counties substituted comparable bottom in their proposals.

Talbot County’s proposal, according to the letter, would have meant 6-percent less habitat in sanctuaries. It also did not substitute comparable bottom and would have meant the loss of one best bar. DNR officials also said that several of the county’s plans were unclear and they never received final clarification from Dorchester and Queen Anne’s counties.

The department did agree to add a 231-acre power dredge study area in Eastern Bay in exchange for a site in the Choptank River. DNR officials originally approved three new areas in Talbot (middle Choptank), Dorchester (Tangier Sound) and Kent (near mouth of Chester River) counties. DNR officials also approved a modification of Kent County’s study area. Those changes will come through emergency regulation, with the study areas likely open in December of this year.

Griffin made the proposal to the watermen at the last public hearing, Dawson said, and the department completed that exercise. The department has estimated the oyster restoration plan will have about a 9-percent effect on the commercial oyster harvest.