When water quality suffers, so do watermen

The Chesapeake Bay's poor water quality doesn't just hurt fish and oysters and crabs and grasses. It hurts watermen, too.

That's the thrust of a report released yesterday by environmental advocates. They said ensuring the future existence of the bay's watermen is yet another reason to speed up the restoration of the bay.

Watermen are "fundamental to the Chesapeake Bay region's identity" and need to be considered, said Tommy Landers of Environment Maryland, the nonprofit group that issued the report.

Titled "Watermen Blues," the report explains how pollution has caused watermen to...