Editor, Gazette-Journal: Mathews County contains over 200 miles of shoreline, home to hundreds of people making a living from the water. Local businesses ship 200 million oyster seeds up and down the Eastern seaboard. Both commercial watermen and recreational enthusiasts must be able to rely on the Chesapeake Bay and the rivers that wind through our county for many years to come. Our voices need to be heard when Washington makes decisions about our waterways. When the federal government writes rules that impact those waterways, it should seek input from the very people who depend on them—and it should provide the resources and technical assistance to help watermen meet regulations, not simply hand down mandates and walk away. Twenty years ago, Rob Wittman claimed to be an advocate for the residents, especially the watermen, in this district. Maybe he has forgotten. I no longer see him protecting the waterways and watermen of Mathews. He is blindly following the mandates of one person. ...