TILGHMAN Throughout the spring and summer, groups of middle school students have been coming to Tilghman’s Island for a lesson on the Bay – literally. The lesson was a collaboration among the school system, local watermen and the staff of Phillips Wharf Environmental Center (PWEC). This year, more than 200 students and their teachers have gone out on the Chesapeake Bay for a close-up look at a pound-net fishing operation.
This fisheries management lesson, linked to Maryland’s environmental science curriculum for grades 7-9, was created by PWEC Executive Director Kelley Cox some years ago. When schools said they had no funding for the long bus ride to Tilghman, Cox went looking for support. The Mid-Atlantic Marine Educators Association, the Concordia Foundation, and the James M. Bryan, Jr. Foundation all stepped up to help with the land and water transportation and the watermen’s expenses. PWEC volunteers did the rest.
Before setting out, students discover how a pound net works by walking through a mock-up on the lawn at the Center. They learn that Tilghman pound-netters are now concentrating on catching menhaden, though they also look for “buy-catch” fish – other species that are in season and of legal size.
Students walk through pound net mock-up.
Then students and teachers are taken by boat to see a real pound-net and Tilghman watermen Jerry Janda and his son, Jerry Jr., in action. The Jandas show how the bottom of the “pound,” a small enclosure at the seaward end of the net, can be pulled up so the catch can be loaded into their boat by dip-net. Students and teachers watch the men at work, record what is being caught, and ask questions.
Questions and answers aboard the boat
Back on shore with this information, students calculate the operational costs, figure the market prices for the catch, and estimate the profit and the work involved. They also dissect several fish to understand their anatomy and consider how fish adapt to different habitats, climates and diets.
Dissection
Recently, Delegate Addie Eckardt (R-37B) was visiting PWEC and watched with interest as a group of students from Baltimore went aboard the “Express Royale” for their trip out to the pound nets. “It’s great to see inner city kids coming to the Eastern Shore for a science lesson like this,” she said.
St. Michaels teacher Lauren Greer was delighted with her students’ reaction to their visit. “I rarely see them so quiet and attentive,” she said.
Cox, who believes in hands-on learning, was pleased, too. “An experience like this might spark an interest in science or fisheries management; you just never know. But it’s why I do it.” She intends to establish PWEC as an important field location for Bay science education for students of all ages and to expand the program as funding permits. Contributions to support the work may be mailed to PWEC, PO Box C, Tilghman MD 21671, or donated online at www.pwec.org.
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