Oyster Controversy

There was a good article in the St. Mary’s County Historical Society newsletter awhile back about the County’s oyster wars with Virginia years ago.  I’m trying to make that available to you online but need to do some more tinkering with it before it is Buzzyblog Primetime ready.  Hence, like an oyster, it sits at the bottom of my “Draft File.”

But then along comes this modern day version of an oyster controversy right here in Ridge.  One would think that a creature as plain and simple as an oyster would not be so controversial right?  Then again, guess that it’s the human element that tends to complicate things and not really the fault of our bivalve buddy.  

Dale Vallandingham was in Buzzy’s Country Store the other day with a copy of his petition to halt the approval of JD Blackwell’s request for 75 acres to oyster farm in Calvert Bay.  Some of the acres JD is looking at are in front of Dale’s mom Peggy Vallandingham’s home on Curley Road.  There was an excellent article on all of this by Jesse Yeatman in Wednesday’s Enterprise (click here.) Dale has also posted a petition online where folks who want to do so can log in as well as read comments made by others who have already signed up (click here) 

Too bad that this has spooled up as it has because the whole idea of oyster farming would seem to have a lot of promise.  (See Southern Maryland Living magazine article (click here.)  Hopefully, something can be worked out that meets everyone’s needs.

JD’s Oyster Floats in Chesapeake Bay off Murray Beach

Maryland’s DNR has a site where you can view all the current leases and sanctuaries (click here.) Excerpt from that site follows: