A consortium of five Maryland counties — Anne Arundel, Calvert, St. Mary’s, Somerset and Queen Anne’s — has proposed a new Chesapeake Bay passenger-only ferry boat service to help increase tourism and economic development in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay region (“Chesapeake Bay ferry system would boost economic growth but operate at a loss in first year,” Aug. 19).
The consortium envisions a fleet of passenger-only ferries connecting Annapolis, Baltimore, Kent Island, Easton, Cambridge, Rock Hall, St. Michaels, Oxford, Chestertown, Tilghman Island, Betterton, Havre de Grace, Solomons Island, Chesapeake Beach, Northeast, Leonardtown, Salisbury, Galesville and Crisfield. To date, federal government funds spent or allocated on this proposal exceed $4,145,000. That figure includes a $250,000 federal grant to the consortium for a feasibility study and a $3,895,000 federal grant to consortium member Anne Arundel County.
In their grant application, Anne Arundel County officials requested $8 million. They now plan to apply the approved $3,895,000 in grant funds to help fund the launch of a new ferry service exclusively between Baltimore, Annapolis and Kent Island. The consortium will no doubt need and seek more local, state, and federal government funds going forward.
Have any members of the consortium spoken with or plan to speak with current Chesapeake Bay tour boat owners and operators about whether and how a new ferry system operated by a public-private partnership may impact their business? Have any members of the consortium spoken with or plan to speak with owners and operators of Chesapeake Bay recreational fishing tour charter boats on if and how they may expand their services to meet increased public demand for Bay tours as identified in the consortium’s feasibility study?
This a perfect time to do so as owners and operators of recreational fishing charter boats are facing measurable declines in their operations resulting from new government regulations limiting the size and number of striped bass (rockfish) that can be caught by clients of recreational fishing charter boats.
Answers to these questions are critical in helping to ensure more fully informed decisions are reached on whether this proposed ferry system is the best way to boost tourism and economic development in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay region.
— David Reel, Easton
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