Piankatank River Anchorage to Reedville
We departed
the Piankatank River in a heavy haze and overcast skies. As usual, the wind was in our face. So, no sailing unless we wanted to take
forever to get up the Bay. Waves were at
3 to 4 feet head on and the current was against us for most of the day. We were ripping along at about 4 to 4.5
knots. There were a few other sailboats
on the water all motoring. Several ships
passed us on their way to the Atlantic.
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| Reedville Fish Processing Plant - Omega Protein Corporation |
Four of the Omega Protein Corporation fishing vessels passed us on their way to their home port in Reedville. They catch the small, oily fish called menhaden which are processed into “fish oil” and fertilizer. The Reedville processing plant processes ½ billion pounds of fish each year. It is the largest fish processing facility in the lower 48 states. Only Dutch Harbor, Alaska processes more fish. They use spotter aircraft to locate the menhaden and dispatch the fishing vessels to where the fish are located which makes for a very efficient operation and huge catches. In fact, this fleet is so efficient that there are very few menhaden in the Chesapeake Bay north of Reedville. They are caught before they can head further up the Bay.
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| Reedville Fishing Fleet |
Menhaden have been called the “Most Important Fish in the Sea” because they clean the water and are a nutritious food source for other larger fish, as well as, whales and dolphins. We have only seen two dolphins on the Chesapeake Bay so far this year. We have never seen any on the Upper Bay. In contrast, people were very excited on Long Island Sound as whales were being spotted there and this was attributed to the high number of menhaden on the Sound. They were so thick in some rivers that we wondered if we were chopping them up with our propeller as we motored through dense schools of menhaden.
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| Reedville Fishing Fleet |
Birds such as eagles, osprey and pelicans feed on menhaden when available. The lack of menhaden in the Bay has resulted in fewer of these animals on the Bay than in the past. Additionally, the menhaden are important to the health of the Bay because these fish are filter feeders which means they filter nitrogen from the water which increases the amount of oxygen in the water making for a healthier and cleaner watershed. It is sad that one company or industry can adversely impact on such an important body of water as the Chesapeake Bay.
We knew we
would not get to Solomons before dark and opted to anchor off Reedville in a
picturesque spot we had anchored in before.
We were glad to get off the Bay.
The sun came out within an hour of our anchoring and it turned into a
beautiful afternoon. Carla took a nap
while Dwayne called various people regarding our insurance claim for the damage
we sustained on Albemarle Sound, as well as, storing the boat until next
spring.
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