and before most people realized it had been set up, the Commission
already had embarked upon one of the most ambitious programs in the
history of the State—the rehabilitation of the bountiful resources of the
Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries.

I was not one of those who was surprised by the prompt action of the
Commission. I have known Dr. H. C. Byrd for many years and am fully
aware of his many talents—his energy, his drive, his vision, his capacity
to organize. But to mention and to praise the Chairman of the Tide-
water Fisheries Commission is not to imply that it is a one-man organ-
ization. It is, on the contrary, a team of talented, public-spirited men.

Our State has been richly endowed by nature, and among the finest
of its natural resources is the Chesapeake Bay and the rivers which flow
into it. This vast body of water is potentially the best fishing ground
in the country. It has been a source of livelihood for many thousands of
Marylanders for nearly three and a half centuries. It is a fact, however,
that the people of Maryland have never realized the potentiality of the
Bay, its tributaries and the Atlantic Ocean in our territorial waters.

During the past several years, we have witnessed a sharp decline in
the yield of certain seafoods, and particularly oysters. Our oyster pro-
duction last year sank to the lowest level since the bleak depression years
of the early 1930's—a meager 1, 968, 894 bushels. The number of pack-
ing houses in the State, I am informed, dropped last year from 124 to 80.
It takes no imagination to foresee what will happen unless drastic steps
are taken to halt this deplorable trend.

As I campaigned through Tidewater Maryland last year, I heard
critical comments on every side about the failure of the Tidewater Fish-
eries Commission to alleviate dissatisfactions that evidently existed. I
was determined that something had to be done, and be done without
delay. After I was inaugurated as Governor, I cast about for ways to
rehabilitate the seafood industry as a whole. This, in my mind, meant
rehabilitation, not only in the sense of replenishing the supply of oysters,
but also in extending help in one way or another to packers so that they
might compete with the packers and buyers of other states. The re-
organized Tidewater Fisheries Commission is a result of this determina-
tion and this thinking.

What has the Tidewater Fisheries Commission done, then, to merit the
confidence I said I had that it will accomplish its great task?

Well, first of all, it has, to a large degree, changed the basic concept of
its function. No longer is the Commission to be considered primarily a
law-enforcement agency, although, of course, enforcement is to remain

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