Baltimore and the Blue Crabs of the Chesapeake Bay
The history of the fishing and shipping industry in Baltimore is long. The Chesapeake Bay is wide. This is a city that has been built on the maritime history over the last two hundred years. The lives of the residents are in one way or another affected by water, from working on the docks and building in the ship yards to the the many Seafood restaurants in Baltimore . The Baltimore Aquarium has the help of many of the city’s volunteers, as well as those who travel from as far away as West Virginia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and New York, who learn about the effects large cities have on bodies of water.
Just as the city of Chicago came together to restore the Chicago River to a proper health, the volunteers gain skills and knowledge at the Aquarium that lead to hands on experiences to ensure the cleanliness and the safety of the water and the habitats along the shores. They study about over-fishing and pollution not only of the Bay itself, but the waters that drain eventually into it. This is the sense of community, in their participation and preservation of environment.
The blue crabs are one such species that while they are fished, the numbers are watched and research is collected to make certain that they remain part of the marine population. The scientists working with the volunteers keep track of that population by trolling the waters and taking stock of the crabs that are already caught in the pots of the fishermen. For years, even though crab festivals and feasts remain a tradition and love of the people of the city, the numbers have not decreased. Regulations placed on the industry and on the recreational fishermen, as well as in the seafood restaurants and markets, have ensured that this tradition will continue, and that the blue crabs still populate the waters of the Chesapeake Bay .
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