Open Agenda - Nanticoke Harbor
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Disclaimer: The following transcript was auto-generated and may contain spelling or contextual errors.
nanoke Harbor is located on the
Nanticoke River about 20 mi west of
Solsbury this facility has two concrete
boat ramps 68 boat slips and abundant
trailer parking yearr round seasonal and
daily boat slip rentals are available
you'll also find a picnic area and
Pavilion offering amazing views of the
harbor entrance and River a small Beach
area and good fishing Nanticoke Harbor
is situated almost right next door to
the popular roaring Point Park which
makes it a convenient place to launch
your boat to spend the day at the beach
a variety of commercial workboats are
docked in the harbor which ply the
Nanticoke River for oysters crabs and
fish opposite the boat ramp you'll
notice several small buildings which in
days gone by were part of the HB kenerly
and Sun seafood processing facility
founded in
1935 HB kenerly was once W Comico
County's largest employer building its
business on process the oysters that
were once so abundant in the Nanticoke
River they also processed breaded squid
and clam strips as well as tuna
delivered on ships from South America
oysters Were King on this part of the
Nanticoke River until the mid1 1980s
when two oyster diseases known as MSX
and dermo decimated oyster populations
throughout the Chesapeake Bay sadly
after 50 years in business the kenderly
had to close the plants doors because so
few oysters remain however they left
behind a legacy of oyster farming which
they had pioneered years before and has
since been revived you'll know the
several large plastic tanks at the
water's edge in the harbor which are
used for growing juvenile oysters known
as spat the tanks are first filled with
cleaned oyster shells which are immersed
in a constant flow of water pumped out
of the harbor then a muddy mass of
microscopic oyster larvae is placed into
the tank
after a short while the oyster larvae
attach themselves to the clean shells
and they begin to grow the oyster shells
peppered with spat are purchased by
watermen who then plant them on leased
beds out in the river where they can
grow to Market size after a year or two
the mature oysters are harvested and
returned once again to natico Harbor
where they're offloaded and shipped by
truck to processing and distribution
facilities on any given day you'll see
oyster dredging and T in boats go in and
out of the harbor as they pursue their
daily tasks of planting and harvesting
oysters thankfully the oyster population
in the Nanticoke River is rebounding and
with good stewardship combined with
modern oyster farming techniques it is
our hope that Maryland's ancient
tradition of seafood harvesting will
forever remain a part of what defines W
Comico County additional information
about Nanticoke Harbor and boat slip
rentals is available on the W Comico
County Department Department of
recreation parks and tourism website
this is Mike Goldberg for open Agenda
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