In The News!
The following introductory paragraphs and links are provided as a sources for finding relevant information of interest to our area FOP members. Clicking the article title will open new page (or a tab) over the top of this page. To return here, just close the new page. Pages are listed by date of the articles with the more recent articles listed first. Recent old articles can still be found in the right column.
Audit faults state's handling of lent-out guns
- Baltimore Sun
December 11, 2011 - "According to the report by the federal agency's inspector general released last month, 761 firearms were not properly accounted for out of more than 900 guns the state issued to 90 private citizens"
NRP graduates officers
- Southern Maryland News
December 2, 2011 - "Menhaden catch restriced by 37"
Menhaden restrictions: The one that didn't get away
- Baltimore Sun
November 14, 2011 - "Menhaden catch restriced by 37"
Watermen: the real story
- Baltimore Sun
October 26, 2011 - "We understand that our Natural Resource Police are underfunded and that their manpower is half of what it used to be. It should be unacceptable to the citizens of Maryland to expect these devoted men and women to protect such a valuable asset on such a limited budget."
Poachers Looting Chesapeake Bay
- WBAL TV
September 27, 2011 - Looting the Chesapeake Bay has become big business and police are having a tough time cracking down on violators, the WBAL-TV 11 News I-Team has learned.
Maryland Seeks Sustainability seal for ROCKFISH
- Baltimore Sun
September 16, 2011 - Watermen who live on the margin of profitability are banking on the eco-label to boost their share of the striped bass market in the Mid-Atlantic states and beyond. "
60 Recreational Fishmen Face Loss of Licenses
- Baltimore Sun
September 13, 2011 - After Senate Bill 164 was passed in July 2009, the DNR worked with sportfishing and tidal fishing groups to come up with penalties for commercial and recreational fishermen who committed "egregious violations that would trigger suspensions,...."
As recruiting flags, Natural Resources Police take to skies
- Baltimore Sun
September 3, 2011 - Facing what it believed to be the largest manpower shortage in its 143-year history, the state law enforcement agency is using every platform possible
A Study calls for halting oyster fishing in Chesapeake Bay
- Washington Post
September 1, 2011 - "Despite a major effort by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to increase the population by supersizing oyster sanctuaries and protecting them with tough anti-poaching laws, the study released Wednesday and published in the journal Marine Ecology Progress Series called on the state to ban all harvests by watermen."
Maryland's Oyster More Depleted than Thought - Study Says
- Baltimore Sun
August 31, 2011 - A new scientific study recommends halting all commercial harvest of oysters in Maryland
Md. boating deaths hit highest level in over a decade
- Baltimore Sun
August 19, 2011 - "... Windemuth said insufficient attention to safety has also been a factor.." (The number of NRP offices has been declining for the last dozen years.)
Maryland Police Investigate Boating Accidents
- WUSA-9
July 30, 2011 - Two boating accidents in the same area in two days.
Vibrio is in Md Waters and Can Kill
- Southern Md News
July 27, 2011 - Know the symptoms and get professional help immediately! There is also a Washington Post article from August 26, 2010 on the topic too.
Alarming Dead Zone Grows in Chesapeake
- Washington Post
July 24, 2011 - After Senate Bill 164 was passed in July 2009, the DNR worked with sportfishing and tidal fishing groups to come up with penalties for commercial and recreational fishermen who committed "egregious violations that would trigger suspensions,...."
Natural Resources Dive Team
- ABC2 News
July 19, 2011 - is in the water with ABC news discussing their mission.
State Proposes New Policies to Prevent Rockfish Poaching
- Baltimore Sun
July 14, 2011 - "In the 1990s, we got checked every day. You didn't screw up because you were going to get a ticket," he said. "All of the sudden, there's no marine police. ... These guys are going to do their jobs. You just have to give them the money to do it."
Requiring Lifejackets Misguided
- Baltimore Sun
May 18, 2011 - ... boaters must be "saved from themselves" through the enactment of mandatory life jacket laws when in fact the opposite is true ...
Save boaters from themselves - Require Lifejacksts
- Baltimore Sun
May 17, 2011 - ... Conservative estimates indicate that 80 percent of those drowning victims would be alive today had they donned a life jacket before leaving the dock.
Oyster Poachers Are Stealing Taxpayers Monday
- Baltimore Sun
May 15, 2011 - ... say possibly up to 80 percent of "sanctuary" reefs off-limits to harvesting experience poaching by watermen
Time for Every Fishing Boat to be Tracked via Transponder
- Baltimore Sun
May 14, 2011 - Watermen's Association made the first move, hiring Pete Jensen to help protect its interests. The long-time Department of Natural Resources official ended his ties with state government in 2005....
A Sour Oyster Stew
- Baltimore Sun
May 10, 2011 - The Chesapeake Bay's oyster population is threatened enough without watermen stealing bivalves from protected sanctuaries