Outdoors Maryland; 1403

This program has been made possible by the members of NPT. Thank you for your generous support. Coming up sailing Reverend Edmunds Ministry of the water meeting up with rock called Mary on water born buffalo and a return to Maryland's westernmost day for a long awaited river outdoors Maryland is produced in cooperation with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources DENR. Inspired by Nature. The beat the big

thing with the bud the beginning for some the way speak of a power stronger than any storm or song the spirit of a people blows in the currents of everyday life. One of these believers is Pastor Rick Edmond he is Smith island's preacher. I think in a situation like like this we get back pretty close to biblical times when people then live inside their closed confines all the time is about a lot more time outdoors. You're just around nature a lot. You have appreciation for vegetation and a wide variety of

spaces are found in the waters and just in the clouds and just so much of life air surrounded by nature and makes people more appreciative. Reverend Rick's ministry sense in coursing the Chesapeake Bay in a Waterman's boat not in search of blue crabs but in pursuit of solace. The Reverend is pastor of three United Methodist churches one each in the villages of Ewell and roads point lying at opposite ends of Smith Island's largest chunk of land. His third church is the centerpiece of the village of Tylers and lying on the second smaller separate more remote Smith Island on Sundays. Reverend Rick hops the islands to give the service at all three churches during the week. He steers his own way setting out on pastoral visits by boat. You're the two islands that make up Smith Island

have been passed to Rick's charge for only a year but already he has set down roots in this wayside Bay culture three and a half centuries old. Reverend Rick has learned the tide of life here always involves the water always a restless venturing out and coming home. Whether it's Waterman setting out and returning from crabbing or Islanders making the weekly pilgrimage to and from market on the mainland while getting to know people that live on the island whether they're church members or not it is just part part of living here they come in and one way or another I'm everybody's pastor whether they come to church on Sunday morning or not. And it's a matter of just living in the community not just living within the church you know. Sometimes I'll go to the crab Shanny's and visit with him there maybe and pick some crabs so I got see how hard they were over there for 40 odd. We got the

farfalle which while we don't care for turning to the hard crafts all go off maybe once or twice a week for our hospital visits most the time and I'm here trying to interact with people on the island. Now that's a good place to be. Smith Island Maryland has no mayor or council nor local government. Civic life abides in the church community. The economy lives or dies in the crabbing industry. For Pastor Rick a decline in crabbing is serious church business. He sees that part of his mission here is to help find ways to diversify the economy including promotion of a budding tourist trade based on the island's unique Waterman culture. Well I knew before I came here that there was going to be more involved than just the church responsibilities. Because since there's no government here ministers send me the point person I like to think of it as an ambassador. So there's a lot of people a con man

people from the media. And also I like to stay active in a good work out political arena as far as letting people in government know how watermen are going to be affected by what happens in the city or on napkins. It's Sunday a brilliant Smith Island morning Sunday mornings are interesting. It starts at 9 o'clock with a church service right next door to where I live the old church that service last about an hour. Oh oh oh oh. Well I met her I want here and it's a little learning experience. There's just special report people here why welcome me. I feel at home with them. So we've made a good bond in that

way but time and the tide hurry Reverend Rick on Sunday mornings there's precious little time between services for catching up on Islander news. Punctually at 10:30 a.m. Captain Ronnie Corbin whose ancestors date back your generations meets Reverend Edmund with his crabbing work boat at the dock at Rhodes point. Captain Corbin ferries the pastor to time attend the island within an island for the second service of the morning. The half hour excursion each way has become a seamless part of the Sunday routine. A treasured time for reflection. Living on the island. Allows you to experience the natural forces a lot more is much more aware of the weather or where the tide of the flow of life and the sea of the people around you working. You realize how fragile their existence or the hard life

that they also enjoy Have fun. I don't harbor good in traditional time there to the watermen culture is distilled. I think people have a greater appreciation for life because when they're out in the water that's a tentative kind of situation where everybody is always thankful when the father or the husband comes back home from grabbing and everything's all right. I think you're going to see you're. Shortly after news reports Captain Corbin spoke for the trip back to Rhodes point the ministry to the Mariners continues. Let me ask a blessing upon his new crabbing race Direction's. Allow them to be applied

fairly and a lot of it would help that this would be something would benefit the ballet and at the same time be fair to all are concerned. By one o'clock Sunday sermons are all delivered but the preachers boy has just begun. Let me ask blessings upon the watermen protect them in safety out upon the waters you know travel back and forth. Watch the Packers as well. They have a family and safety be with them during the long hours. On Independence Day in Rockwall is more than just a

summer holiday for these eastern shore water men and their families. It's a celebration of the life they've been born to of the road less traveled. They've chosen the bounty of the Chesapeake Bay has provided generations of rock called water men with a colorful past a comfortable present and now an uncertain future. Buffalo strong along with his family is as much a part of Rock Hall as its town docks or annual festivals. He shares to the waterman's unpredictable living dependent on critical nature and fluctuating markets. My regular old Waterman may be a brother in law of nephews and nieces and our old Waterman. What I meant was they all one thing and you know what all the more going through in a world that is right with the blue crab population at an

estimated 30 year low and stringent rockfish regulations in force. All rock all fishermen are going through hard times. But Buffalo has found a unique niche in this world. He's one of only a few dozen on the entire Chesapeake who commercially harvest live channel cats in their early 60s. The father he started catfish in up the bay there and then the early 70s I had my own rate and been doing it ever since they were there and now the third generation joins the harvest sun and now partner Jamie starts the day with buffalo with the public landing where they load their boat reprisal for another day of fishing the northern tributaries of the bay. More than two million pounds of catfish are harvested each year from the Chesapeake. But like any fishery especially in recent times the good days are interwoven with the bad. When you go out there in the morning

you really don't know what's going to catch on you know if you have a hope feeling the tossing song. And then you fish for a week two weeks and you will be fish for four weeks so far and we haven't seen 100 pound 200 pound and when I dare yesterday when I did a day old son and I mean it's like like you hit a gold mine. It's a treasure to you if you want to find blackened your treasure chest. Well guess maybe when my kids on the right the first task of the day is to set a crib to hold the harvested catfish until they're taken to the dock. Buffalo sells to buyers weekly during the high season in the spring and fall. The catfish travel to the Carolinas and the Midwest largely to stock recreational fishing

lakes at campgrounds and parks. When the crib is set it's off to the Bush River to check the hoof nets they've baited the previous day with horseshoe crabs. Jamie prepares more Bay crabs on the way. When they get to the line they pull and empty each who bore Fyke net in a harmony so complete It's like watching a silent symphony. It's something people I guess now days don't really get a lot of chance to do if you work with your children I mean you know I'm into woodworking like me best friend and I mean people see them get that opportunity. I depend on him and he depends on me and if we're both working on his boat whenever you know something can happen and you know I have him right there with me. Well being a waterman just something I've grown up with. Thought I've always been on the water when I was a kid dad always used to take me

out on the water and it's just I've never done anything else. I've always been around it so I guess it's in my blood. At forty five cents a pound. The wild stock is only about half the price of farm raised catfish and the supply has a mind of its own. It's bad the best way of saying start now so far it's been a real slow saving real slow. Plus I've seen in my life really even when the catfish are poignant and the holding tank on board fills with the time there are heavy costs like fuel and bait which have risen recently. Their bait Bill Hughes just used to bail like $500 a week but now since they got out restrictions on horseshoe crabs it's increased three times when we used to pay like $600 Bayville now we got an 18 hard to $2000 bake though we still at the end

of the week there are more than four tons of lively catfish in the crib to unload. Ah but really believe in things like will you know the fisheries are some of them are going to be caught on some number off and if you just stick it out you can probably you know get over to home. You don't think something will be up. Some crabs not show up but you know you go ahead make a living. And there's always. One fishery and now it's go it's going to be better filling lighting a North Carolina Fire awaits back at the dock with the trucked away by and transport the harvest. Like so many days on the water it's been a good one for father and son. Their forecast is for more many more to come out. I think every woman did you talk to say they all follow retard but they all line up on

water. Don't you know all the voices 70 80 years old. They just fall over dead in a baby. Yes so that's what I want to hear. Well this picture that gave me it might be a good day to you my when you see people 40 years from now honestly. Lloyd Sansom No 5 Looking back exactly like he does with his way of life. Then you really get used to it and I think it just gets took away from he'll know it. But I know you did a lot of the home. They have attributes we admire uncommon intelligence beauty agile Grace. They require little from us to flourish. Just clean water and

protection from unregulated trapping river otters are found on most continents and throughout North America to Mexico. They're related to weasels and scones but are semi-aquatic mammals ranging from salt water marshes to mountain streams on Maryland's Eastern Shore river otters are thriving but until 10 years ago they had vanished entirely from western Maryland wiped out by the wasting hand of man river otter stuff one good example of an environmental moron of approximately 10 years ago through our Appalachian region otter had been out for food last month. Years now as a result of deterioration and vegetation habitat. Robert Colona Ferber a project manager with the Department of Natural Resources led Maryland's efforts to restore otters to our mountain rivers. Approximately 20 to 25 years ago environmental awareness increased in the United States and we had

some water pollution laws that were instituted and some of the mining and logging regulations were instituted as a result of that. A lot of the bodies are water throughout a Appalachia have increased in quality. They reached a point approximately 10 years ago when we felt they could support river otter sense and we've successfully reintroduced sand throughout the state. There are viable populations established in every region now river otters present a wily challenge to wildlife managers and researchers because otters home ranges may exceed 100 miles along inaccessible streams and rivers monitoring the long term survival of recently restored or still troubled Otter populations has been virtually impossible. Dr. Tom surface assistant professor of wildlife ecology at Frostburg State University in Allegheny County is working to change all of that has coordinator for the Pennsylvania river otter reintroduction project for 20 years.

Tom has worked closely with Maryland's DNR to release over 60 otters to the Yucca Gagne River watershed which drains Maryland Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The goal now is to develop techniques for monitoring the successful populations models which could be used throughout North America and the world wherever species of otters are threatened by loss of aquatic habitat pollution or unrestricted take this spring. Tom welcomes two special guests to his lab at Frostburg State University. River otters trapped in New York's Adirondacks for release to a tributary of the Castleman River which flows from western Maryland into Pennsylvania. The hope is to match the success of the restoration efforts along the Gainey river. The rooms are by design very austere. Basically we want nothing for them to get into.

We've we've had them open cabinetry doors and things like that. Although it's interesting it makes funny stories it also creates the potential for the otters to be injured. How the process must be out quite fast because the authors quickly learn how to turn faucets on and off mostly on trade in general. Jerry Wetherell I think the more intelligent of the animal the more likely it is to show up a great range of behavioral responses and we see that among individuals with author Some are extremely DASAR we seldom see them. This one apparently has been quite willing to come out OK. All right we're just going to turn away and let them settle in now before these otters are released they will provide Tom's researchers with an essential substance. Only authors can provide Otter scat. It takes dedicated scientists to follow this trail graduate student Jenny

Fike is developing techniques we're genetically identifying and tracking individual otters. So I've always had a passion for otters ever since I was little. They're so playful and just fun to watch. And that's why I came across very close to work with the circus. My project. Oh yes. A lot of lab work in the beginning in field work towards me and what I am trying to do is develop protocols for extracting DNA from the outer scats and hopefully be able to identify individual authors based on the DNA that we extract. This has been done for other species of animals but not really very much for otters yet. So hopefully this will establish something that can be used all across the world for monitoring populations graduate student Abby Burke's research takes her first to the field then to the

lab. She walks three tributaries of the OC again river collecting skin to see how our eating habits change through the seasons and from tributary to tributary how these animals are so elusive. You really can't see them out during the day. I've been out for the last year and a half every week looking for him and I've seen them twice. So in order to find the otters you have to find the stats. So give us an idea of where they are what they're using what they're eating and the general condition of the population. In the area of this site at Mountain the bow is now rich in sign of Otter. This was one of the important release areas and clearly what we're seeing is that that effort has been successful. Abby takes her collection to the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. Appalachian laboratory. I'm very interested in seeing what prey items they are consuming in these areas just to determine what needs to be in the environment to sustain the otter themselves. Because this area has not had otters for

quite a long time by midsummer it's time to release the youngest of the two waters back to the wild. The older Otter is deemed not ready. We do a lot of things with ours and I think we do a very good sound for sound research but ultimately we're doing this to restore otters to the wild so it's just fantastic. Tom is concerned that transports to the release site along a Pennsylvania tributary of the Kassam river will be traumatic for the otters which are notoriously sensitive. Just so the release is something of a media event a celebration for the many government agencies and conservation groups who support the honor restoration project. Well I think the otter possesses a lot of the qualities that we as humans would like to possess. They're an attractive animal. They're an intelligent animal. They're

strong athletic animals. And I think when you when you put that all together in one package it creates a critter that appeals to an awful lot of people. So if we can take this animal use it to highlight the importance of maintaining the quality of aquatic habitats and wetlands we protect a wealth of others who are tasting green mountain waters for the first time in months. The otter hardly believes his luck. We opened the door. I felt joy was finally out in the wild goose chase

of the wondering wondering what to do. He's found some place to rest. Yes I think be very happy. Drop in to our website

to send us your comments and suggestions. This program has been made possible by the members of NPT. Thank you for your generous support.