The Nation - News from Nov. 1, 1987

The Navy canceled tests of underwater explosives in Chesapeake Bay after a blast killed as many as 3,000 sea trout and produced criticism from fishermen and officials. “We were surprised we had any kill at all” from Friday’s explosion, said Diane Palermo, a Navy spokeswoman. The explosion came a year after the Navy promised the charges would not cause significant fish kills. Charter boat fishermen and state officials had complained then about the planned explosions, fearing that large schools of fish would be driven from the area or killed by the blasts. “The Navy, evidently, they do whatever they want,” said Jack Johnson, a charter boat captain who fishes the area and has protested the Navy’s presence. “This area they are testing in is loaded with trout.”