3688                                          LAWS OF MARYLAND                                     Ch. 787

SECTION 4. AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That this Act shall
take effect July 1, 1985 July 1, 1986.

Approved May 28, 1985.

CHAPTER 788

(Senate Bill 503)

AN ACT concerning

State Boat - Designation

FOR the purpose of designating the skipjack as the State boat.

BY adding to

Article - State Government
Section 13-312
Annotated Code of Maryland
(1984 Volume)

Preamble

WHEREAS, Recent efforts to restore the environmental
integrity of the Chesapeake Bay have rekindled interest and
appreciation in this majestic estuary as not only an economic
asset but also as the foundation for a way of life for many
Marylanders; and

WHEREAS, Nothing better represents the way of life of
Maryland watermen than the historic Chesapeake Boat known as the
Skipjack; and

WHEREAS, Skipjacks were first developed in Maryland over a
century ago for use on the Bay in oyster dredging and represent
the last fleet of working sail commercial vessels operating in
North American waters; and

WHEREAS, These sturdy and rugged vessels, manned by
stalwart Maryland watermen, still set out before dawn in the
often frigid winds of the Chesapeake each year from November to
March to harvest the bounty of the Bay; and

WHEREAS, Current Maryland law, in an era of power-driven
commercial craft, still affords a unique role for this
wind-powered vessel; and

WHEREAS, Fewer than three dozen licensed and working
Skipjacks still skim the surface waters of the Bay, in the manner
of the fish they were purportedly named after; now, therefore,