HARRY HUGHES, Governor

3841

RESOLVED, That copies of this Resolution be forwarded to the
Honorable Harry Hughes, Governor of Maryland, the Honorable
Melvin A. Steinberg, President of the Senate of Maryland, the
Honorable Benjamin L. Cardin, Speaker of the House of Delegates,
Lowell K. Bridwell, Secretary of the Maryland Department of
Transportation, and Louis L. Goldstein, Comptroller of the
Treasury.

Signed May 15, 1984.

No. 22

(House Joint Resolution No. 23)

A House Joint Resolution concerning

U.S. Postage Stamp Commemorating the
Chesapeake Bay Skipjack Fleet

FOR the purpose of requesting the U.S. Postmaster General to
issue a U.S. postage stamp to commemorate the Nation's last
fleet of sailing workboats the oyster dreding dredging
skipjacks of our Chesapeake Bay commemorating the Chesapeake
Bay sailing skipjack fleet of wooden commercial fishing
vessels.

WHEREAS, The Chesapeake Bay sailing skipjack fleet has
played an important role in our nation's history and the history
of the State of Maryland; and

WHEREAS, The skipjack fleet is the final remaining fleet of
wooden commercial fishing vessels to work under sail in North
American waters; and

WHEREAS, The number of vessels in the fleet has decreased
from more than 1,500 at the turn of the century to approximately
30 in 1984 33 in 1983; and

WHEREAS, Some vessels in the fleet are more than 100-years
old and may not survive much longer; and

WHEREAS, The skipjack fleet represents the last vestige of
the period of "Iron Men and Wooden Ships"; and

WHEREAS, This period deserves the honor and recognition of
a specially issued U.S. postage stamp by the federal government;
and

WHEREAS, The rapidly vanishing vessels from this period can
be immortalized on a U.S. postage stamp; and