Brendyn Meisinger
December 16, 2011
Chesapeake Semester
Waterfowling in the Chesapeake Bay Area
The Chesapeake Bay region is home to many wondrous species from the iconic Maryland blue crab to the mighty oyster, crassostrea virginica, which we cherish so much. However, there are species that have identified this side of the bay in a very rural natural setting, ones that have brought certain richness to our culture. From an economic standpoint to the cultural aspect of how we identify ourselves, waterfowl play a pivotal role in what is the Chesapeake Bay. With help from Harry M. Walsh’s book The Outlaw Gunner, and Tom Horton’s book Bay Country waterfowling in the Chesapeake area will be analyzed in different perspectives from wildfowlers, market gunners, and the men who keep them in check.
Waterfowl such as the Canada goose and the canvasback duck require a particular habitat to live in, whether it is year round or when they are just passing through. The Chesapeake Bay provides a model environment for such species as well as many more. However recently, habitat loss has decreased the amount of residential waterfowl and increased the amount of migratory game birds. There are many factors that have contributed to habitat and food loss including natural disasters like Hurricane Agnes, increased pollution input, and amplified sedimentation levels.
One of the central pollutants in the bay found mostly in rural areas where farming is abundant is eutrophication. This occurs when there is an abundance of phosphates and or nitrates in the water column, which in turn causes an increase in the algae count. When the algae count rises, it causes one side effect, which is the clouding of the top of the waterway. If the top waterway becomes clouded the amount of light that hits the bottom to the submerged aquatic vegetation is severely decreased. With the decreased sunlight, the SAV cannot photosynthesize properly and the amount of oxygen in the water becomes depleted. In turn, fish and other species that need to live in the water using the SAV as protection perish as well as vital portions of the habitat. Along with the crabs and fish in living among the SAV, comes other species that directly feed on these submerged plants such as wild celery or widgeon grass. These species are the waterfowl that this area has come to be known for and include the redhead duck, black duck, canvasback duck, mallard duck, blue and green teal duck, Canada goose, snow goose, and a host of other waterfowl that call Maryland home at some point of the calendar year. To bring in one of our intersections (science and belief) Harry Walsh claims, “There is enough natural food for all and a healthy bird can find it. If baiting were legalized, the overkill would be disastrous and in a short time most of the birds would be concentrated only in the areas that could afford to support them.” (35). Mr. Walsh writes as though SAV will be here for the birds forever, even though scientific study shows a dramatic decrease in natural submerged aquatic vegetation in the bay.
While learning about the agricultural systems at work in the bay, we heard much debate on projects farmers are implementing to actually prevent such measures, such as further eutrophication. Chicken farmers must cover the excess litter of the chickens, while corn and soybean farmers are realizing they must add buffer zones between their fields and their crops. Businesses such as municipal waste plants and power plants have put in place ways to help reduce eutrophication including a process to sterilize any algae or bacteria released into the rivers. In fact, at the Chestertown Wastewater Treatment Plant, water that is put back into the river is cleaner then the natural river water itself.
Waterfowling in the Chesapeake area is one of the corner stones of culture that represents our little piece of local land in this great country. People from up and down the east coast have been coming to Maryland to hunt many different species of game birds for years. Tom Horton puts it in great context when he says, “Our big forebrain lets us love geese, even as we love to kill them. That hunting is part of our heritage is as certain as the pointed canines we have in our head, the better to rend meat with.” (8). However, it was not all just goose hunting as it is chiefly today. Back in the eighteen and nineteen hundreds, this land was full of canvasback ducks native to this land. I learned while interviewing Dr. Henry Sears that when people first started hunting waterfowl in this area, the waters were full of submerged aquatic vegetation to the point where it was hard to swim in let alone walk through to set out decoys. There was food aplenty for all manner of species in the ecosystem. However, this changed with the conversion of small family farms where minimal livestock and animal husbandry made up the area compared to the large-scale farms of corn and soybean we have today. Harry M. Walsh describes such a time, “There’s no room for bait in today’s gunning, what few ducks we have would soon be destroyed. Once the sky used to be black with ducks everywhere you looked. There appeared to be no end to their number. What a shame to see them go.” (37). The addition of atrazine to farmer’s agricultural crops, the runoff of sediment from land development, and the contamination from waste plants, have all added to the fall of submerged aquatic vegetation. SAV use to be prevalent in most all waterways of the Chesapeake Bay, but now only make up a fraction of what they once were.
Hunting for waterfowl is not just a hobby, but in some cases a way of life for people who live in the area. In times past there were some who would go out and kill ducks to sell at market. Some even primarily relied on the same species for food to put on the family dinner table. Harry M. Walsh relives those times, “As is the case with all foods, the market varied but was always good during Christmas, Thanksgiving, and on weekends. Canvasbacks and redheads were always in demand. Even after restrictive laws, the taste for game continued. A good merchant would supply his customers and it became fashionable to cheat the law. All the law did one outlaw said, was raise the price and make it more fun.” (59). Even in recent times there are those that run guiding services as a way to bring in income on the side. However, with the downfall of such species came laws to protect endangered species and those that could become endangered. One such law was the illegal usage of corn as bait for geese and ducks. In his text Harry M. Walsh says, “For the duck, corn is the preferred food; for the hunter it is a real delight, but too powerful a medicine to be used—to the Wildlife Management Officer and the Game Warden it is a deadly poison.” (29). Over the years many regulations have been passed and entire agencies created in the aim to help such species thrive in the area.
Old habits seem to die hard in the Chesapeake Bay. Today’s watermen hate being told what to do just the same as the market gunners of the past. This brings in another fine intersection of modern and traditional principles. Traditionally people believed that God would provide for us. Harry M. Walsh recalls these facts, “The old captain was the final authority on all things concerning wildfowling. In his mind, the proudest moment of a duck’s life was when he shot it. The thing he knew and did best in life was hunting wildfowl. Conservation and survival of a species were foreign thoughts to him—the Lord had placed the fowl here for the benefit of man and the Lord helped those who helped themselves.” (67). People need to realize that in modern times there just isn’t enough habitat or food for the species to bounce back as fast as they could when these factors were in such abundance.
We do have a long way to go if we are to get back to the days when ducks blacked out the sun when they took off from the river. The time for blaming others is over; the time for action is now. Instead of pointing fingers at large corporations or family owned farms, all need to worry about their own household first. The time will come for retribution to those who are deliberately trying to devastate the environment. Instead of direct blame, we should better educate the public and younger generations about how much harm is being done to our great bay and how it is affecting the species that live in, on, or around it. In the end, the lack of proper bay care will affect us one way or another and the species that live among us.
Work Cited:
Horton, Tom. Bay Country. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987. Walsh, Harry M.. The Outlaw Gunner. Centreville: Tidewater Publishers, 1971.
