1862                                       JOINT RESOLUTIONS

WHEREAS, Excessive development occurring north of the spring may have a
detrimental effect on the groundwater supply serving the hatchery: now. therefore,
be it

RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF MARYLAND, That
effects of residential and/or other development in the Beaver Creek Valley north of
the Albert M. Powell Trout Hatchery and report to the General Assembly not
later than January 1974, recommending for the guidance of the State and local
government measures which will mitigate adverse effects; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution be sent to the Governor of
Maryland and the Secretary of Natural Resources.

Approved May 7. 1973.

No. 30
(Senate Joint Resolution 2)

Senate Joint Resolution requesting the Department of Natural Resources and its
appropriate agencies to conduct a research program to study the blue crab.

WHEREAS, Thousands of Marylanders annually enjoy one of the most
delicious of all seafood indigenous to Maryland - the blue crab in all the many-
ways it can be prepared; and

WHEREAS, However, for a period of at least five years, the crab population of
the State has fallen far below the predictions of expert marine biologists; and

WHEREAS, While some years are better than others, the records show that the
crab population has declined to a point from which it is unable to recover. Crab
production in Maryland dropped from 24.5 million pounds in 1967 to 8.6 million
pounds in 1968. The Virginia Institute of Marine Science predicted that the
shortage would end by August, 1969, but the 1968 and 1969 production of crabs
fell to less than one-half of the former level. Experts from the Department of
Natural Resources, the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory and the Virginia
Institute of Marine Science claimed that the summer of 1970 would be a bumper
crab crop season, but crabs that year remained scarce, and both Maryland and
Virginia crab houses reported getting only 8 to 10 pounds of meat per hundred
pounds of live crabs, instead of the usual 14 pounds, thus representing a 30 to 40
per cent reduction. From September, 1970, through August, 1971, there was yet
another crab shortage; and

WHEREAS, Once again the experts forecast crab catches of 75 million pounds
a year for the next two years. In view of past predictions which have never
materialized, the new forecast for crab catches is certainly questionable; and

WHEREAS, At the present time, there is far too much still remaining unknown
about the habits, patterns, life cycle of the blue crab. Without this knowledge,
Maryland is powerless to control crab production or to discover conditions that
contribute to its decline; and

WHEREAS, A research program relating to the blue crab is very much in
need; and it would be a prudent investment and one Maryland should feel
compelled to make in order to protect a 15 million dollar annual industry; now,