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Where Did All the Seafood Go?
Who did Earl White say is responsible for pollution in
the Bay?
PEOPLE! Mr. White says, "People done it all. By the time they
realized what they was doing, it was too late."
Here are some ways that people cause pollution that harms the seafood
in the Bay:
- Farmers around the Bay put fertilizer on their fields to make the
crops grow better. The fertilizer runs off into the Bay and makes
algae grow. (Algae are tiny green plants.) This blocks the sunlight
from getting to the bottom, so the grasses that the baby crabs need
for food die. Since they don't have enough food, the baby crabs die,
too.
- Cites and industries in the state need to get rid of the waste
that people make. They dump bad stuff like oil and sewage (called
pollutants) into rivers that lead into the Bay. These pollutants
kill the fish.
- School children - from Cumberland to Frederick to Baltimore to
Chestertown to Ocean City - throw plastic bags onto the ground. Rain
washes the plastic bags into storm drains. The storm drains empty
into streams that empty into rivers that empty into Chesapeake Bay.
Ducks eat the plastic bags, get sick, and die.
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Of course, most people don't intend to harm the seafood in the Bay.
They just want to use the land and water around them to make a better
life for themselves. And for their children - like you. They probably
don't even realize the bad effects of their actions on the baby crabs
and tiny oysters fighting to grow in the Bay.
Think about some actions that you, and the people
in your community, do to harm the Bay. Keep
this list for the final project.
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