Algae bloom a new worry

John Neukam has been catching crabs in pots near the Middle River for decades. But this year, the crabs have been dying in the water, suffocated by a bright green algae bloom that is choking off oxygen and worrying watermen and recreational boaters.

"You crab all week, you get a bushel and a half in your live box, and they die," said Neukam, after checking his pots yesterday morning. "I've been here all my life - 64 years - and we've only had this one other time, when fertilizer from a farm seeped into the cove."

People who live in subdivisions off the coves and creeks in the Middle River area have been scared to eat the fish they catch, worried about letting their children and dogs swim in the water, and in some cases unable to get their boats out from their docks, which have been socked in by the thick, carpet-like algae.

The state Department of Natural Resources says the algae is not toxic, but it is alarming. When the algae dies, the decomposition sucks the oxygen out of the water, killing crabs and fish. The algae also blocks sunlight from the beneficial bay grasses, which provide a refuge for shellfish and crabs.

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