PAY BACK? Perdue and the
NOMINATED: Ocean City restau-
owners of the Hudson farm are back in court seeking $3 million from the plaintiffs who sued them PAGE 14A
rant industry produces six finalists for annual awards offered by the Restaurant Association of Maryland PAGE 45A
INSIDE THIS ISSUE: BUSINESS . . . . . . . . . . 45A CLASSIFIED . . . . . . . . . 27A ENTERTAINMENT . . . . . . 5B LEGALS . . . . . . . . . . . . 29A
LIFESTYLE . . . . . . . . . . . 1B OPINION . . . . . . . . . . . 20A OUT&ABOUT . . . . . . . . 16B SPORTS . . . . . . . . . . . . 39A
THE 30TH ANNUAL SEASIDE BOAT SHOW GETS UNDER WAY . …PAGE 1B
Ocean City Today WWW.OCEANCITYTODAY.NET
FEBRUARY 15, 2013
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Fishing industry splits DNR deficit with higher fees, new licenses Facing $2.7 million in red ink, state agency raises costs to operators but not by much ZACK HOOPES ■ Staff Writer (Feb. 15, 2013) Want to fish? Pony up. Not as much as had been feared, however, as legislation currently moving through the Maryland General Assembly – developed by a group of commercial and charter fishing industry representatives – seeks to distribute equitably the cost of closing the budget gap in the Maryland Department of Natu-
ral Resources’ fisheries programs. “Basically, the DNR fisheries service was facing a $2.7 million deficit, and they did a cost analysis and determined that, in their opinion, the commercial fishing industry was not paying their fair share through fees that they got through licensing,” said Gibby Dean, president of the Chesapeake Bay Commercial Fisherman’s Association “We’ve been meeting for over a year on this,” Dean said. “We wanted to be proactive, but we
also wanted to be fair about it.” During the state’s legislative session one year ago, according to Sen. Jim Mathias, budget work revealed that the DNR was facing a $2.7 million shortfall in meeting its expenditures. At that time, however, additional fees were already being levied on recreational fishing. “So the state required the Department of Natural Resources to study existing laws and fees to make sure the commercial licenses and fees covered a fair share of the collective costs,” Mathias said, with the ultimate goal of “ensuring a good relationship between the recre-
ational fishing community and the commercial industry.” It was left up to the commercial watermen how exactly to split up the increased costs that had been assigned them. The current proposal places less of a burden on charter boat owners and fishing guides – annual licenses for guides will increase from $50 to $100 for in-state residents and from $100 to $200 for out-of-state residents operating in Maryland waters. A master guide’s title will be an additional $100, instead of the previous $50. Increases of roughly $50 have also been placed on those
catching seafood, including finfish, crabs, oysters, lobsters, conch, and turtles, for sale. Further fees have been levied on larger-scale crabbing operations, where additional fees will no longer have to be paid per crewmember, but fees for vessels with more than 300 pots have been added. Licensing for seafood dealers – anyone who buys, processes, packs, or resells – has also been reconfigured, with the previous $150 flat fee now going to a lower, $50 fee for those also licensed to catch seafood, and a $250 fee for those being liSee STRIPED on Page 6A
Trio walks out of WalMart with stolen merchandise NANCY POWELL ■ Staff Writer
BAYSIDE REPAIRS
OCEAN CITY TODAY/NANCY POWELL
Works continues on the rebuilding of the bayside boardwalk between Third and Fourth streets on Tuesday afternoon. The boardwalk was destroyed during Superstorm Sandy in late October.
Bad Credit? No Credit? 7091 Worcester Hwy, Newark
(Feb. 15, 2013) Three Salisbury residents were charged last week with stealing merchandise valued at thousands of dollars from the Berlin WalMart. Working together, the trio allegedly stole numerous laptop computers, desktop computers, televisions, home surveillance equipment and Blu-Ray DVD movies from the store. Surveillance cameras revealed that the three suspects entered the store and took computers and televisions on Jan. 26. Later that
day, they returned and apparently walked out with several additional laptops. On Feb. 4, the trio returned to the store and took two additional televisions, a desktop computer and two home surveillance kits. The suspects “walked through unattended registers with the items and walked out of the store,” said Detective Sgt. Mike Lupiwok of the Worcester County Bureau of Investigation. The alarm sounded as they walked out as it sometimes does as people are leaving the store even though those shoppers have paid for items. See TRIO on Page 7A
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