Watermen & the Seafood Industry

To measure the Bay’s health, you can use indicators such as rockfish, crab, or oyster populations to get an idea of how well the ecosystem is functioning. All of these species are impacted by nutrient and sediment runoff in the Bay. The nutrients fuel algae blooms in the Bay which deplete the water of oxygen and form dead-zones, killing these species. And the sediment can cloud and darken the water which limits the amount of light that reaches the grasses on the Bay floor, killing them and destroying habitats.

You can also measure the overall health of the Bay by examining how much seafood is caught each year. After all, the Chesapeake is well known for its seafood, especially blue crabs. Picking and eating crabs in Maryland is just part of the lifestyle. It’s a summer tradition. If you’re from Maryland, you better know how to pick a crab! And if you’re a tourist visiting from out of state, you’ve got to give it a try (or at the very least have a crab cake). It’s what we’re known for. Keeping the Bay healthy and clean is directly associated with the size of the harvest watermen catch, and how much they are limited in doing so.

If a healthy fishing industry is a sign of a healthy bay, then we should be concerned considering a majority of commercial fisheries have collapsed or are increasingly restricted. The livelihoods of the watermen in the Bay have been negatively affected by these realities. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has studied the social vulnerabilities of the fishing towns in the Bay’s region and recognizes their decline and their need to adapt to changes. Stock fluctuations, government regulations, and an aging workforce are all aspects that have led to the decline in fishing towns and watermen livelihoods.

Let’s look at Crisfield, Maryland as an example. Crisfield is a fishing town on the eastern shore of the Bay and was once known as the quintessential watermen town. At its height, it was the largest oyster producing town in the country and was known as the “seafood capital of the world.” By 1904 it was the second largest city in Maryland (behind Baltimore) and the seafood industry provided an economic boom to the economy in the area. Over the decades, as the Bay’s health declined, so did Crisfield. While it’s still a popular fishing town, it’s not as economically powerful as it once was. In fact, the poverty rate in Crisfield in 2019 was over 35%, and the median household income was under $30,000 a year.

(Image of Main Street in Crisfield)

Fluctuating stocks have posed an ongoing issue for watermen. The amount of crabs, oysters, and fish in the Bay always seems to be going up and down. This rollercoaster makes it difficult for the watermen in the industry to have a reliable source of income. Even before examining the fluctuations for myself, I heard many different stories throughout the years that made me wonder what exactly is going on with the populations. It seems like one year, blue crab levels were at the highest they’ve been in decades, only to hear a few years later that they are at historic lows. As a casual observer, it was difficult for me to understand what was happening. But for the watermen, it must have been an extremely frustrating reality. Historic highs one year will not make up for the loss from historic lows the next. Imagine trying to make a living off unpredictable trends from year to year.

One trend that had initially looked promising was the rockfish, or striped bass, population in the Bay. In the 1970’s the population was extremely low and reached dangerous levels due to overfishing. Restrictions on the fishing seasons and the size of the fish were put in place alongside restocking programs to help rebuild the population. These plans helped rebound the level of rockfish to historic highs by 2004. But today, we are once again seeing a decline in stock. Blame is put on not enough menhaden (a fish that striped bass consume) due to industrial fishing, dead-zones in the Bay which stress the fish and leave them more susceptible to disease, and damage from recreational fishing which can kill up to 9% of fish even after they are caught and released. Action must be taken to rebuild the rockfish population. Declining populations will surely affect the watermen who rely on the fish when crabbing season isn’t in effect.

Blue crabs make up a large portion of watermen's income. In 2020, commercial crabbing harvested 17 million pounds of crabs, versus 1.3 million in rockfish and less than 1 million pounds of oysters. So when crab numbers are low, it can have a negative impact on what watermen earn. Unfortunately, crab populations have continued to fluctuate for years. Back in 2007, the federal government declared the crabbing industry a disaster and on the verge of collapse. By 2008, Congress stepped in and designated money to support the 5,200 licensed watermen in the area. The crab population today still continues to be historically low. It had dropped 54% in 2021 and was at the lowest levels counted in the last 30 years. There were an estimated 39 million male crabs in the Bay that year, well below the long-term average of 77. Perhaps this is due to seagrass levels in the Bay declining so rapidly.

In 2019, seagrass beds in the Bay declined 38%. These beds are crucial for the growth and development of crabs. They are a nursery for crabs, and where they molt several times before reaching maturity. The seagrass offers not only protection from predators, but also an environment rich with other species (food for crabs). One study showed that there were 30 times more juvenile crabs in seagrass than in unvegetated areas. A decline in seagrass will undoubtedly lead to a decline in the crab population. Seagrass in the Bay fluctuates every year based on rainfall, damage from storms, pollution, and sediment runoff. Overall, trends look positive for seagrass growth in the Bay. With that said, any bad year or period with decline of seagrass will certainly impact that year's crab harvest.

(Marshes in Crisfield where juvenile crabs may take shelter. Check out the Heron tracks!)

Low crab levels caused restrictions on the size of the crabs that are allowed to be caught, the number of bushels, and the number of female crabs that were allowed to be captured. Virginia and Maryland also stated they would not consider extending the harvest season and would continue to focus on restricting the catch of female crabs. The only silver lining of the most recent survey of crabs in the Bay is that the population of spawning-age mature female crabs had increased from 2020 to 2021, from 141 to 158 million. This may be a good indication for the future of crab populations, but it doesn’t really give watermen any relief right now.

With rockfish and crab populations hurting the income of watermen, they have one more popular option to consider, and that’s oysters. But overharvesting, disease, and habitat loss have brought the oyster populations to only 1% of what it was at its highest. Oysters used to be able to filter all of the water in the Bay in about 3 days, but now their numbers would take about 700. A major hit to the industry started around 1950, when the first of two diseases (Dermo and then MSX) impacted and devastated the oyster population. While the disease was harmless to humans, it killed millions of oysters. From 1985 - 2010, oyster harvest fell by 90%. This caused a 75% decrease in the number of oystermen in the area as well.

In fact, the numbers had become so low in the 1990’s that the Chesapeake Bay Foundation recommended a 3 year ban on oystering. This, of course, was met with much resistance from watermen and the seafood industry. Shutting down an entire industry for 3 years was not an option for watermen, and the recommendation ultimately did not move forward. Luckily, in the last couple of years, the population has seen an increase thanks to restoration efforts and aquaculture. In 2021 the amount of legally harvested oysters was up to 500 million, the third largest count in two decades. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources, which controls permits and harvesting regulations, even considered expanding the harvest area to most portions north of the Bay bridge which had previously been off limits. Near Tangier Sound, oyster abundance has hit a 20 year high. The easing of restrictions and the increasing oyster population has got to be a relief for watermen, but we have to remember that in just 2018 oyster stock had declined by half of 1999 levels.

Overall, it seems that watermen feel held back and weighed down by restrictions and regulations. There are regulations on what seasons, days, and times you can fish. Regulations on areas of the Bay where you’re permitted to fish. Regulations on the type of gear and equipment you can use. And regulations on licenses and permits needed, which are oftentimes difficult to get. One of the regulations that has hit Virginia crabbers pretty hard is the restriction on dredging during the fall and winter. During the cold months, crabs bury themselves in the mud while they wait for warmer temperatures. In Virginia, it was once permitted to dredge the bottom of the bay for those burrowing crabs. While this helped Virginia watermen get by during the winter months,it was a point of contention with Maryland crabbers. In Maryland, dredging during the winter is off limits. So many of the Maryland watermen, especially in southern cities like Crisfield, found it unfair that the Virginia watermen were able to continue crabbing which would inevitably lead to fewer crabs available next season. But, Virginia has changed the regulations and no longer allows dredging to allow the female crab population to rebound (at least during the 2021-2022 winter season).

Livelihoods are being impacted by the health of the Bay, and environmentalists and watermen often disagree on how to handle the situation. A sustainable Chesapeake Bay is not just limited to the environmental aspects associated with it, but also the cultural, societal, and economic parts, too. Success in any of these areas relies on the success of the others. One thing that watermen and environmentalists can agree on is that nutrient and sediment levels need to be reduced in the Bay. It is a known and proven solution to reverse environmental and economic degradation.