OCEAN CITY – Local officials highlighted the impacts of shoaling with a boat tour for state leaders.
Sen. Mary Beth Carozza hosted a boat tour for members of the Maryland General Assembly and representatives of Gov. Wes Moore’s administration in Ocean City last week during the summer convention hosted by the Maryland Association of Counties.
“Our boat trip on the Angler brought all the partners together from Ocean City, Worcester County, the State of Maryland, federal government, and our local fishing, boating and marina businesses to highlight the urgency of extreme shoaling of the Ocean City Inlet and the push for both immediate short-term and long-term solutions,” Carozza said.
While the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) has acknowledged that shoaling in the federal channels within the Ocean City Inlet occurs faster than maintenance dredging can keep up, in March the USACE decided not to move forward with structural improvements. Agency leaders said the proposed construction would not meet net economic benefit targets and said the Corps would instead continue maintenance dredging.
When the dredging vessels came to do their July visit, however, they didn’t even remove the amount of material expected. When the Worcester County Commissioners sent a letter asking for emergency dredging before the White Marlin Open, USACE said the soonest they could get vessels to Ocean City was Aug. 17.
Bob Mitchell, Worcester County’s director of environmental programs, said the dredging vessels returned to the resort Aug. 19 are expected to work in the channel until the end of the month. They arrived just after Carozza’s boat trip provided state officials with a better understanding of the situation. Carozza’s guests were accompanied by local fishing industry representatives, including waterman Sonny Gwin, White Marlin Open’s Jim Motsko, boat builder and fisherman Jon Duffie, attorney Mark Cropper and marina manager Brian Tinkler as well as Bob Mitchell, director of environmental programs for Worcester County, and Kevin Smith of the Maryland Coastal Bays Program. They talked about their experiences with shoaling as well as the impact on landmarks like Assateague Island and events such as the White Marlin Open. An economic impact report conducted by the Maryland Department of Business and Economic Development in 2009 calculated an estimated $16 million in local expenditures, $4.9 million in salaries and 130 jobs related to the White Marlin Open alone.
Carozza praised the team at the Angler — Julie Bunting Smith, Regan Smith, Jayne Bunting and Chris Mizurak — for making the trip possible.
“We were successful in raising the urgency of this Maryland priority with State officials who have committed to assisting with both the short- and long-term solutions and keeping the pressure on the Army Corps of Engineers,” Carozza said.
Mitchell, who’s communicating with the USACE regularly regarding shoaling, said the boat trip was a good way to highlight the issue for state officials, as they had the opportunity to see the waterways up close and talk to local captains.
Cropper agreed and commended Carozza for attempting to get the interest of governmental leaders.
“I hope they fully understand and appreciate the severity of the shoaling issue in the Ocean City Inlet and anything they can do to help address the issue in both the short and long term will be greatly appreciated,” Cropper said.
He spoke to attendees on behalf of local marinas and the general fishing community. Cropper said shoaling continued to be a major problem for boats in the area.
“If not addressed properly, the Inlet is going to fill in, commercial vessels will no longer have safe and effective passage out of the West Ocean City commercial marina and the recreational and charter fishing fleet will no longer be able to have safe passage into the various marinas that provide enormous financial support to Worcester County,” he said.
For now, Mitchell said local officials were monitoring shoaling and exploring other possibilities now that the jetty improvement project isn’t being funded by the USACE.
“We are exploring additional dredging, more material being removed from the shoals near the 11 and 12 buoys, placement of the sand on the northern part of Assateague Island, relocation from time to time to match the best location for navigation thru the 11 and 12 buoys to match the best waters to reach the Ocean City Harbor,” he said. “This informs the Corps dredge visits for material removal during their visits. We also realize we have to compete against the whole mid-Atlantic for any additional use of these two dredges.”
