Nowadays, there are fewer varieties of fish in Maryland rivers, and none of them lie so thicke above or below the waters as in ancient times. Maryland fish are having a bad season, as several rivers have been found to be infested with a toxin-emitting microorganism, Pfiesteria piscicida. The microbe inflicts the fish with lesions - unsightly, probably painful, usually fatal. It also attacks humans - watermen, sport fishermen, swimmers - with memory loss, respiratory problems, and skin rashes.

Now several Maryland streams are closed - a concept that probably would have startled Smith and Wallingford. Perhaps Maryland chicken manure is the culprit; used as fertilizer, the manure makes a rich, tasty, nutrient-rich soup that runs off into the creeks, streams and rivers where microbes like Pfiesteria find it irresistible. They become fruitful and multiply, then the fish die and watermen grow forgetful. Which may be a mercy, as they're forgetting better times, when Sturgion, Porpusse, Base, Rockfish, Carpe, Shad, Herring, Ele, Catfish, Perch, Flatfish, Troute, Sheepes-head, Drummers, Iarfish, Creuises, Crabbes, Oisters and diuerse other kindes of fish swam in Maryland waters in their multitudes; and catching them with a frying pan was not absolutely out of the question.