DEAL ISLAND, Md. - Richie Calloway, a waterman on Deal Island, says oyster counts this season are at an all time low because of a couple of different factors.
"It's started off pretty slow with all the freshwater we've had and opening the Conowingo Dam," Calloway said.
But Calloway explains its also partly due to the increasing number of state restricted sanctuaries and mother nature's toll on the water.
"When it blows like this for three or four days I'll get backed up on my orders. It's kind of been either rainy or windy year it seems like more than usual so it's hampered our sales a little bit," Calloway said.
Calloway says it's been frustrating to keep having fewer and fewer areas to get oysters in each year.
"I tell people it's like farmers, if you take all the farmers and make them tend one plot of land, of course it's going to be overharvested and overworked," Calloway said.
But he says he's keeping an optimistic mindset because of what he sees on the water during the week.
"It looks promising for next year, there's a lot of small, healthy looking oysters," Calloway said.
Calloway says while oyster season runs publicly through March, he is looking forward to continuing to harvest oysters into the summer months on Deal Island.
