According to the Maryland DNR, a Dorchester County man was charged with multiple counts of illegal oystering during a joint operation between Maryland Natural Resources Police officers on the ground and Natural 1, the department’s recently reacquired helicopter.
Jody Daniel Jackson, 18, of East New Market, was spotted harvesting oysters with a power dredge in the Little Choptank River November 3.
The entire river is closed to dredging and the area where Jackson was working is an oyster sanctuary.
Natural 1’s pilot spotted the 40-foot workboat with bushels of oysters on the deck and alerted officers to intercept it as it approached the dock in Madison Bay. The pilot took photos of the dredging activity and marked GPS coordinates.
The coordinates were verified by the department’s Hydrographic Operations staff and Jackson was charged Thursday with: harvesting oysters more than 250 feet inside a sanctuary, catching oysters for commercial purposes without a license, using a power dredge outside a designated area, failing to pay the state oyster surcharge, failing to cull oysters and return shell to the original bed, failing to obtain a certificate of number, failing to display a Maryland use sticker, and operating an unnumbered vessel.
Jackson is scheduled to appear in Dorchester County District Court March 21. The maximum fine if he is found guilty of all charges is $8500.
Little Choptank Oyster Sanctuary
The Little Choptank River oyster sanctuary was established in 2010. Water quality favorable for oyster growth and reproduction, a large amount of restorable bottom, and good historical spat set led the Maryland Interagency Workgroup to choose the Little Choptank River as the second tributary for large-scale oyster restoration.
Recently, the habitat goal for the Little Choptank River sanctuary has been cut by 118 acres, which is one fourth of the original target, according to the Capital Gazette. After a construction error in the Harris Creek oyster restoration site caused damage to multiple boats, the decision was made to "curb construction in shallower spots in the Little Choptank. In Harris Creek, multiple boats grounded or scraped against reefs that did not meet five feet of navigational clearance.