HOOPERSVILLE, Md. - A project years in the making.
In Dorchester County, the United States Army Corps of Engineers is set to meet with local watermen. The discussion is about proposed dredging near Barren Island across the water from Hoopersville on Hoopers Island.
Since 2009, the Army Corps of Engineers has intended to restore Barren and James Island in the Chesapeake Bay. Barren Island, according to the Army, is "100% wetlands". Local watermen say restoring Barren and James islands is a must, but they worry the dredging will disrupt a nearby and popular crabbing spot.
"We're losing areas of the bay like crazy and this is a good project," says Captain Rob Newberry, president of the Delmarva Fisheries Association Inc., "it's just the area they set up the borrow pit up is right, smack dab in the middle is where these guys crab pot and it's a good crab pot area."
A borrow pit is the exact spot where the dredging is to be conducted.
According to a 2009 report from the Army Corps of Engineers, "the restoration projects at James and Barren Islands would contribute to the goals of the Chesapeake Bay Program Watershed Partnership through its habitat and ecosystem recovery and preservation efforts."
Updated requests for comment from the Army Corps of Engineers were not returned. Newberry says watermen who crab in the area do not want to be turned away from their go to spot, or have to lose out on future opportunities to crab near the island. "There's areas behind the island. There's areas north of the island. They can do the same thing. It's just the watermen would like to see them north of the island and not in their primary crabbing area," Newberry reiterates.
