REHOBOTH BEACH – The Indian River Marina, owned and operated by DNREC’s Division of Parks & Recreation, is still accepting registrations for the 5th annual “Kids Catch-All” fishing tournament Friday, June 21 – Sunday, June 23 at the marina. Children and teenagers aged 3-18 are invited to participate in the event, during which every young angler will receive a prize.

During the tournament, anglers may fish from the jetties, off the beach by boat and head boat. Ocean and bay fishing is permitted. Adults are allowed to assist the young anglers.

Registration is $25 per child or $150 per boat with up to six participants. The fee includes a free event t-shirt and all-you-can-eat dinners on Saturday and Sunday evenings for kids entered in the tournament. Other family members can also attend the dinners for a $10 fee.

Onsite registration will be open Friday evening, June 21 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday morning, June 22 from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. Online registration is available now via www.kidscatchall.com. All children must be registered either online by 8 p.m. Friday or in-person by 8 a.m. Saturday to participate. All registrants need to visit the tournament booth to pick up a copy of the tournament rules before fishing.

Custom trophies in 15 different categories will be awarded to the winners at the awards banquet held Sunday evening. Each registrant will also receive a special gift from Hook’em and Cook’em Outfitters. Door prizes will be awarded each night during dinner.

Weigh-in is from 3-6:30 p.m. Saturday, and 3-6 p.m. Sunday. The marina’s weighmaster is expected to make the process fun for the whole family. A leader board will be maintained, and pictures of the kids and their catches will be taken by the Coastal Fisherman, an Ocean City, Md.-based newspaper.

A portion of the proceeds benefits the Lyme Disease Association of Delmarva, Inc. More information about the fishing tournament or how to become a sponsor is available by calling Lyme Disease Association of Delmarva at 410-749-LYME or 410-726-4573.

More information about the contest is available from the Indian River Marina at 302-227-3071.

Media Contact: Beth Shockley, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

-STARTING JUNE 13, 2019-

(DOVER, Del.—June 6, 2019)—Beginning on June 13, 2019 and continuing through Sept. 26, 2019, the Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs will offer informational tours of the surviving hull of His Majesty’s Sloop DeBraak, a British warship that was escorting and protecting a convoy of British and American merchant ships en route to the United States when it capsized and was lost off the Delaware coast on May 25, 1798.

Tours begin at the Zwaanendael Museum, located at 102 Kings Highway in Lewes, Del., where visitors will take part in a lecture on the ship’s history, its role in the Royal Navy and what life was like on board. Visitors will also be able to connect the information with the museum’s exhibit “A Seaborne Citizenry: The DeBraak and Its Atlantic World,” which includes a variety of recovered artifacts, firsthand information, photographs and more. Participants will learn about global trade and war, marines and sailors, prize ships and why a British warship was in Lewes long after the Revolutionary War, how it sank and what was kept buried with it for almost 200 years. The remains of the DeBraak brought together salvagers, archaeologists and historians who finally solved her longtime mystery. Attendees will then be transported, via van, to the DeBraak conservation facility at Cape Henlopen State Park for an interpretive viewing of the hull, a section from stem to stern which includes a view of the keel and the copper sheathing that lined the ship. Each tour lasts approximately two hours.

Lecture/tours will take place on the following Thursday mornings at 9 a.m.: June 13, 20 and 27; July 11, 18 and 25; Aug. 1, 8, 15, 22 and 29; and Sept. 5, 12, 19 and 26. (Note: Tours will not be held on Thursday, July 4.) Lecture/tours will also be offered on the following selected Saturday evenings at 5 p.m.: June 29, July 27 and Aug. 31. Tickets are available at the Zwaanendael Museum. Admission is $10 per person (cash or check only). For reservations, e-mail hca_zmevents@delaware.gov or call 302-645-1148. Tours are restricted to individuals age 10 and up with space limited to 12 participants per tour. Walk-ups are welcome but space is not guaranteed. Special tours, for groups of 10 to 15, may be arranged in advance by contacting the museum.

Significance of DeBraak …
During the late-18th and early-19th centuries, sloops of war such as DeBraak played an increasingly important role in Royal Navy campaigns. These relatively small vessels combined speed, agility, shallow draft and increased firepower, all of which made them formidable naval warships. As the only Royal Navy sloop of war from this time period that has been recovered anywhere in the world, DeBraak serves as an invaluable historical resource for a time when Great Britain was the world’s preeminent naval power. The artifacts and hull have given archeologists a view of the innovative technologies being used in not only shipbuilding but ship functions, as well as fashion trends, war techniques, crew diversity and hierarchy and much more.

The surviving section of the DeBraak’s hull and its associated artifact collection have been curated by the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs since they were acquired by the State of Delaware in 1992. Approximately one-third of the hull survives and is being preserved including the keel, keelson and lower framing elements, as well as a large section of the starboard (right) side. The Lost Off Lewes summer lecture/tours are an excellent way to see and experience some of Delaware’s most important maritime history, a history that continues to grow and excite visitors from across the country.

About the Zwaanendael Museum …
Built in 1931, the Zwaanendael Museum commemorated the 300th anniversary of the state’s first European colony, Swanendael, established by the Dutch along Hoorn Kill (present-day Lewes-Rehoboth Canal) in 1631. It continues to celebrate the town and state’s Dutch heritage as well as other local history. Designed by E. William Martin (architect of Legislative Hall and the Hall of Records in Dover), the museum is modeled after the town hall in Hoorn, Netherlands, and features a stepped facade gable with carved stonework and decorated shutters. The museum’s exhibits and presentations provide a showcase for Lewes-area maritime, military and social history.

The Zwaanendael Museum is administered by the Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, an agency of the State of Delaware. The division enhances Delaware’s quality of life by preserving the state’s unique historical heritage, fostering community stability and economic vitality and providing educational programs and assistance to the general public on Delaware history and heritage. The division’s diverse array of services includes operation of five museums which are accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, administration of the State Historic Preservation Office, conservation of the state’s archaeological and historic-objects collections, operation of a conference center and management of historic properties across the state. Primary funding for division programs and services is provided by annual appropriations from the Delaware General Assembly and grants from the National Park Service, Department of the Interior, a federal agency. However, the contents and opinions expressed in the division’s programs and services do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Department of the Interior.

-End-

Contact:
Jim Yurasek
Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs
Phone: 302-739-7787
E-mail: Jim.Yurasek@delaware.gov
Web: http://history.delaware.gov

DOVER – The Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Delaware Shellfish Program and Kent County Levy Court will conduct a week-long water quality study starting June 10 in the Murderkill River and Delaware Bay to evaluate the bay’s oyster beds. The study calls for applications of the red dye Rhodamine WT, which is commonly used in water quality and dispersion tests, and is not considered harmful to the public or the environment.

Weather permitting, application of the dye will be made at the Kent County Waste Water Treatment Plant near Frederica into a tributary of the Murderkill River to measure water flow and dispersion in waters where shellfish are harvested, according to DNREC’s Delaware Shellfish Program within the Division of Watershed Stewardship.

DNREC’s shellfish program utilizes a classification system that regulates the harvest of shellfish based on water quality, and which also assesses the potential risk to shellfish harvesting in the event of a wastewater spill. The goal of the red dye study is to help determine the potential impact to oyster beds in the possible event of a wastewater spill or other pollution event.

Dye applications are planned near late-evening low tide on Tuesday, June 11 and will continue until around noon the next day. As a result of the dye applications, portions of the Delaware Bay, Murderkill River and St. Jones River may turn reddish in color. The extent of water discoloration could be fairly widespread but should disperse within 48 hours.

The study – known as hydrographic dye dilution – will be conducted by DNREC in conjunction with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Kent County Department of Public Works. Results will help to appropriately classify shellfish harvesting waters, assess risk, and facilitate emergency closure provisions in the event of a wastewater spill associated with extreme weather or natural disasters, such as hurricanes, nor’easters, or heavy flooding. Information collected will be used by the FDA and DNREC to evaluate potential water quality impacts and closure of shellfish growing areas in the Delaware Bay under such emergency situations.

For more information on DNREC’s Delaware Shellfish Program, please visit de.gov/shellfish.

Media contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 49, No. 145

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REHOBOTH BEACH – The Indian River Marina, owned and operated by DNREC’s Division of Parks & Recreation, will host the 5th annual “Kids Catch-All” fishing tournament Friday, June 21 – Sunday, June 23 at the marina. Children and teenagers aged 3-18 are invited to participate in the event, during which every young angler will win a prize.

During the tournament, kids have choices as to how they want to fish: from the beach, at jetties, or by private or charter boat. They can also choose where they want to fish: in the ocean, in inland waterways, or via deep-sea fishing. Adults are allowed to assist youngsters reeling in their catch.

Registration is $25 per child or $150 per boat with up to six participants. The fee includes a free event t-shirt and all-you-can-eat dinners on Saturday and Sunday evenings for kids entered in the tournament. Other family members can pay $10 for the dinners, prepared by local restaurants both nights.

Onsite registration will be open Friday, June 21 and Saturday, June 22 from 6 to 8 p.m. both days. Online registration is available now via www.kidscatchall.com. All children must be registered either online by 8 p.m. Friday or in-person by 8 a.m. Saturday to participate. Online registrants need to visit the tournament booth to pick up a copy of the tournament rules before fishing.

Custom trophies in 15 different categories will be awarded to the winners at the awards banquet held Sunday evening. Each registrant will also receive a special gift from Hook’em and Cook’em Outfitters. Door prizes will be awarded each night during dinner.

Weigh-in is from 3-6:30 p.m. Saturday, and 3-6 p.m. Sunday. The marina’s weighmaster is expected to make the process fun for the whole family. A leader board will be maintained, and pictures of the kids and their catches will be taken by the Coastal Fisherman an Ocean City, Md.-based newspaper.

A portion of the proceeds benefits the Lyme Disease Association of Delmarva, Inc. More information about the fishing tournament or how to become a sponsor is available by calling Lyme Disease Association of Delmarva at 410-749-LYME or 410-726-4573.

More information about the contest is available from the Indian River Marina at 302-227-3071.

Media Contact: Beth Shockley, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

BETHANY BEACH – DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife announced today that the boat ramp at Sassafras Landing, located within the Assawoman Wildlife Area, will be closed from Monday through Thursday during a three-week period beginning Monday, June 3. The temporary closure is needed to provide construction access for a shoreline stabilization project. The Sassafras Landing boat ramp will be open with limited parking Friday through Sunday during this time period.

The shoreline stabilization project will protect an adjacent pond managed for freshwater plants attractive to water birds, and will stabilize and enhance the shoreline with native marsh plants. A series of 50- to 100-foot long rows of rocks will be placed in the water parallel to the shoreline, with clean sand placed between the rock and the shoreline where native marsh grasses will be planted to protect the shoreline and provide valuable wildlife habitat. The project will decrease wave energy to reduce shoreline erosion. The rock rows will have small gaps installed to allow fish and terrapin passage.

The boat ramps and crabbing piers at both Mulberry and Strawberry Landings within the Assawoman Wildlife Area will be open during the construction project.

For more information, please call the Wildlife Section at 302-739-9912.

Media Contact: Joanna Wilson, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902