“Is that a subsidy? That’s what it looks like

Oystermen reap federal bounty

moncler outlet online uomo At the Hyatt Regency resort in piumini moncler saldi Cambridge, several dozen scientists, watermen and government moncler outlet serravalle regulators gathered to sip martinis and mingle over hors d’oeuvres. Later, there were cheers and tributes as they dined on crab and filet mignon. moncler outlet online uomo

moncler uomo The mood was celebratory at January’s annual meeting of the Oyster Recovery Partnership. Yet the government financed nonprofit has made little progress toward its stated mission of restoring oysters to the Chesapeake Bay. moncler uomo

piumini moncler scontatissimi Maryland officials set up the group more than a decade ago outlet moncler in what was envisioned as a groundbreaking attempt to revive a species moncler uomo all but destroyed by overharvesting and disease. Since 2002 alone, the partnership has received $10 million in federal funds to lead Maryland’s efforts to make oysters an abundant, self sustaining species again. piumini moncler scontatissimi

moncler bambino saldi FOR THE RECORD Because of inaccurate information provided to The Sun, an April https://www.moncleroutlet-i.org 1 article incorrectly reported the results of a federal study of a Maryland Department of Natural Resources program to move oyster seed. moncler bambino saldi

piumini moncler uomo The way to do that, leading scientists say, is to leave the shellfish in the water so they can reproduce and propagate the species. But the partnership puts most of its oysters in places where watermen can take them out and sell them for roughly moncler donna $30 a bushel. piumini moncler uomo

“If you’re serious about the ecological value of oysters, then they must remain in the bay and live,” said veteran oyster biologist George Krantz, former fisheries director at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources.

piumini moncler The partnership’s spending has done more to create income for watermen than bring back the Maryland oyster, an investigation by The Sun has found. The group not only provides watermen a crop to harvest, but it also pays them to do work that many scientists say has little merit. piumini moncler

moncler saldi outlet The Sun found: moncler saldi outlet

While the partnership moncler bambino saldi has planted tens of millions of hatchery raised oysters, less than a third have been put in protected sanctuaries. Most are planted in places where they can be harvested.

moncler saldi uomo The group is paying the Maryland Watermen’s Association moncler outlet trebaseleghe nearly $400,000 this year to remove diseased oysters from one part of the bay and dump them moncler saldi uomo in another. Proponents say this practice helps other oysters survive, but it has no proven scientific value. Critics say a primary benefit is to provide work for watermen. moncler saldi uomo

moncler donna The head of the Watermen’s Association sits on the partnership’s board and piumini moncler uomo is among those who benefit financially from the federal grants. moncler outlet online uomo Association president Larry Simns Sr. doled out tens of thousands of dollars of the grant money to watermen last year to help plant or move oysters. Also, he collected $40,100 for supervising their work. moncler donna

moncler outlet online shop The group used $46,000 in federal funds to hold its annual meeting at the Hyatt Regency, a golf resort and spa. The money went not just for the fancy dinner but also for hotel rooms for 50 of the guests. Private funds were used only for the alcohol. moncler outlet online shop

moncler saldi While moncler outlet online shop solid figures are not available, the Department of Natural Resources estimates that there are fewer oysters in the Chesapeake moncler outlet today than when the Oyster Recovery Partnership began its work in 1994. Its piumini moncler outlet efforts have failed piumini moncler scontatissimi to overcome the devastating impact piumini moncler of two oyster parasites, MSX and Dermo, that have all but wiped out the oyster population. moncler saldi

moncler bambino outlet Partnership officials nonetheless consider their work a huge success. moncler bambino outlet

moncler outlet serravalle “We’re certainly doing infinitely better than what has been done in the past,” said Torrey C. Brown, a former state natural resources secretary who now serves moncler saldi as the partnership’s unpaid chairman. He is proud of the group’s extensive oyster planting program. moncler outlet serravalle

Partnership officials say it makes sense to let watermen harvest many of those oysters because the shellfish would die eventually of disease. They moncler saldi point out that in the several years before the oysters are moncler saldi outlet harvested, they help the bay by filtering away pollution.

piumini moncler outlet “The idea that it is a watermen’s welfare program is nonsense,” Brown said. “I don’t think that they’re getting any untoward benefit.” piumini moncler outlet

outlet moncler Though the partnership gets millions in federal funds, it operates moncler bambino outlet with virtually no governmental oversight. The group gets the money as the result of a budget “earmark” arranged by Sen. Barbara Mikulski, a Maryland Democrat, and the grant is distributed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. outlet moncler

moncler outlet A top NOAA official acknowledged that his agency hasn’t intervened as the partnership used the grant to run programs that he said are effectively subsidies for watermen. moncler outlet

piumini moncler saldi “Senator Mikulski said, I want oysters in the water for harvest by watermen,'” Bahner said. “Is that a subsidy? That’s what it looks like. And I think she would be proud of that.” piumini moncler saldi

moncler outlet trebaseleghe Mikulski declined to be interviewed for this article. But in a written response to questions from The Sun, she said she expected NOAA “to have strong oversight” of how the grant was being spent. In addition, she said the money “was never intended to be a subsidy for industry or watermen.”The misunderstood ‘rule of thumb’ Misconception: Many feminists for years thought the phrase “rule of thumb” referred to British common law’s tolerance of wife beating moncler outlet trebaseleghe.