Ahab's Journal

Crab-pot makers turn traps to trees

DAVIS -- In this tiny fishing village, where generations caught crabs inside wire-mesh traps, you can't make a nickel on the tasty crustaceans anymore, not with cheap seafood from Malaysia flooding the North Carolina coast.

So a few years back, Neal "Nicky" Harvey cut up some of the crab pot wire lying around his shop and built a small Christmas tree. Then another. Then a dozen. Then a thousand. Now this Christmas, Fisherman Creations will send out roughly 150,000 crab-pot trees from Raleigh to New York, from Smithfield to Texas.

It took the ingenuity of an old-time crab-pot maker to transform a sheet of green mesh, a material that looks a good bit like chicken wire, into a piece of holiday charm. At 66, Harvey has seen his fishing net business dry up, watched crab-pot demand fall from 3,000 to 300 a year and lived to see the landmark Sanitary Restaurant and Fish Market in Morehead City serve shrimp from Taiwan. With these trees, Fisherman Creations can export relics of a fading Down East culture. 

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Chesapeake crabbers not going for Va.'s buyout

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.—To ease pressures on the Chesapeake Bay's blue crab population, Virginia is paying watermen to stay out of the water, using $6.7 million in federal disaster aid to buy back crabbing licenses.

Many longtime crabbers won't take the bait, though, preferring a backbreaking job with dwindling returns to no job at all.

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DNR Retires 530 Crab Catcher Licenses Through Buy-Back Program

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has to date purchased and permanently retired more than 530 Limited Crab Catcher (LCC) commercial crabbing licenses through its LCC buy-back program.   To further reduce latent effort (fishing effort that is not currently deployed) the agency is also proposing a change in regulations governing the LCC License.  

“With the purchase of more than 530 licenses, the buy-back program is certainly meeting our expectations,” said DNR secretary John Griffin. “However, while retiring these unused licenses is an important component of our efforts to rebuild the Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab population, additional actions are needed to ensure a sustainable fishery.”  

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Biotech Center loan helps ECU entrepreneur get noticed

Gabe Dough and his new company, Shure Foods, are creating a buzz in some North Carolina entrepreneurial circles.

Dough, an MBA student at East Carolina University, got a $30,000 low-interest company inception loan from the North Carolina Biotechnology Center to pursue his dream of commercializing a new way to process and sell the meat of swimming crabs such as the highly prized blue version frequently captured in North Carolina coastal waters.

Biotechnology is the use of living cells and their molecules to solve problems and make useful products. Shure Foods uses proprietary materials such as fibrinogen, thrombin, enzymes and proteins to tweak the texture and consistency of the fresh crab meat so it can be formulated into products such as medallions, nuggets or patties.

Read "Biotech Center loan helps ECU entrepreneur get noticed"

Entrepreneur developing new crab-processing way

Gabe Dough wants to make Washington the “core” of America’s crabbing industry.

His ambitious plan starts with his upstart, biotechnology-based crabbing company, Shure Foods.

Through experimental work with the company, Dough has been using proprietary materials, such as enzymes and proteins, to tweak the consistency of raw blue-crab meat and bind it into medallions and patties.

The company’s extraction and manipulation process is designed to reduce the end cost of producing the delicate blue-crab meat, Dough said.

Read "Entrepreneur developing new crab-processing way"

 

New crabmeat-extraction mechanism developed

A North Carolina entrepreneur has developed a new way to process and market fresh crabmeat.

Gabe Dough, an MBA student at East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C., and founder of Shure Foods, created a mechanism for extracting crabmeat from the shell without cooking it, replacing the manual labor involved with picking crabmeat and yielding a higher percentage of meat per pound of raw material.

Dough also came up with a means to tweak the texture and consistency of fresh crabmeat so it can be formulated into medallions, nuggets or patties. The fresh crabmeat is treated with a protein-binding agent that allows it to be quickly shaped, portioned and frozen so it can be shipped uncooked to restaurants worldwide. When thawed, chefs can prepare it as fresh crabmeat. 

Read "New crabmeat-extraction mechanism developed"

Md. revises crab license buy back program

All initial bids will be formally declined. Instead, the Department will immediately offer a fixed price of $2,260 to all LCC holders who may wish to sell their license. DNR used the 494 bids received through the reverse auction to determine a fixed, fair value for an LCC license.

Read "Md. revises crab license buy back program"
 

Crab license buyback unpopular

Maryland officials offered to buy thousands of licenses of part-time crabbers, but only about 500 watermen submitted proposals, said Lynn Fegley, a biologist who is the state's point person on blue crab issues. 

Read "Crab license buyback unpopular"

Seafood processors welcome work visa availability

Maryland seafood processors were scrambling today to apply for nearly 26,000 visas for seasonal workers that the federal Department of Homeland Security said were still available.

Read "Seafood processors welcome work visa availability"

Virginia wants to buy back crab licenses

The state of Virginia wants to buy back an undetermined number of crabbing licenses in a bid to sustain a recent surge in Chesapeake Bay blue crab.

The program, under review by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, would be a first in the state's 100-plus years of commercial fishing regulation.

The state would hold a "reverse auction" in which crabbers would submit a bid stating how much money they would be willing to surrender their licenses for. The state would then either accept or reject the offer.

"This is not a negotiation," said John M.R. Bull, a spokesman for the commission. "It's an effort to reduce the number of watermen, full time, who are crabbing."

Read "Virginia wants to buy back crab licenses"

 
 

State sets up man with hundreds of crab pots

"A little-known state government service bought 1,100 crab pots to help a hearing-impaired Belhaven man pursue his dream of starting a business.

The state Division of Vocational Rehabilitation Services approved using federal money to buy the $38,018 worth of traps as part of its rehabilitation program. The division is better known for preparing disabled people for work. Helping people start businesses is a smaller part of its job.

Some lawmakers say the state is wasting money on a losing proposition. Lanier Cansler, the Department of Health and Human Services secretary who personally approved the purchase, said he is satisfied that the department handled the case right. Nonetheless, he has asked the department's internal auditor for a review to make certain its procedures make sense."

Read "State sets up man with hundreds of crab pots"

Water is Life on Smith Island, Md.

View video here: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/12/travel/20090712-smith-island-ss/index.html#

Maryland hopes to buy back crab licenses

Reverse auction of commercial permits would protect fishery

"Crabbers, name your price. In an unprecedented move to protect Chesapeake Bay crabs, the state is offering to buy back more than half of the commercial crabbing licenses held by Marylanders.

The Maryland Department of Natural Resources announced Thursday that it wants to retire up to 3,676 of the "limited crab catcher" licenses it has issued over the years and is willing to pay for them.

The voluntary buyback is the state's most recent bid to protect the bay's iconic crustacean from overfishing as it recovers from a near-disastrous decline. Although the bay's crab population rebounded significantly last year in the wake of stringent restrictions put on commercial crabbing, scientists say it has not fully recovered and remains vulnerable to another drop if people licensed but not now crabbing went out on the water after them."

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Crabmeat stuck in legal, political pickle

Problems with visa program keep picking houses closed

"HOOPERS ISLAND - When the tourists come through town, Jay Newcomb has little to show them.

Newcomb manages the A.E. Phillips & Son crab-processing plant on Hoopers Island, the very place where the Phillips Seafood empire was born nearly a century ago.

It's a popular stop for tourists on bus trips, who want to see women performing the intricate job of plucking fluffy, delectable meat from blue crabs - crabmeat that ends up in crab cakes, soups and dips across the country.

But these days, the stainless steel tables are clean and nobody is sitting in the hard, gray chairs alongside them. The Phillips plant and several others on the Eastern Shore are idle, as the owners haven't been able to hire temporary foreign workers through a special visa program."

Read "Crabmeat stuck in legal, political pickle"

Crab restrictions tighten

"NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (AP) -- Intent on restoring blue crabs to sustainable levels in the Chesapeake Bay, Virginia regulators on Tuesday continued catch restrictions for the 2009 season but eased many previous or proposed limits.

The commission generally eased off restrictions or planned limits following a census of the bay's crab population that recorded the highest levels since 1993."

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Quiet kingdom of the crab

"If you're lucky, you might hear the women's voices raised in beautiful a cappella renditions of their favorite hymns while they work. This evening, they share recipes for crab imperial, a baked loaf of crab and cream sauce; stewed jimmies, the big male crabs simmered with onions, dumplings, potatoes, and white gravy; and crab cakes made with lump meat, egg, mayo, scallions, and Ritz crackers. My question about adding diced celery or peppers raises a few eyebrows:

"I guess if your crabmeat tastes bad you could do it," says Tina Corbin, "but I wouldn't. That would ruin the taste." "

Read "Quiet kingdom of the crab"

Blue crab crisis to get $7.5 million in relief funds

"The U.S. government approved state plans Tuesday for spending $7.5 million in federal disaster aid to help shoulder the blue crab crisis in the Chesapeake Bay.

Also T uesday, Virginia and Maryland learned they each are eligible for an additional $5 million in federal crab aid over the next three years, money Congress recently passed in the Omnibus Appropriations Act of 2009.

In Virginia, that extra cash probably will be used to buy back fishing licenses from watermen who agree to quit crabbing, said Jack Travelstead, state director of fisheries."

Read "Blue crab crisis to get $7.5 million in relief funds"   

Tangier watermen's future tied to the Chesapeake Bay

"In 2002, there were 140 watermen on Tangier. Today, there are just 80. Pollution has smothered underwater grasses that the crabs need to survive. Algae blooms have depleted the bay of oxygen." 

Read "Tangier watermen's future tied to the Chesapeake Bay"

A Baby Boom Of Blue Crabs

"The number of blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay increased about 43 percent last year, according to survey data released yesterday, and scientists said it was probably a sign that measures taken to protect the beleaguered bay icon are working for now."

Read "A Baby Boom Of Blue Crabs"

Crab Houses Facing Picker Shortage Look To Inmates

"Owners of seafood processing plants on Maryland's Eastern Shore are considering hiring state prisoners to pick crabs because the foreign workers they've depended on for years have recently had trouble getting temporary visas.

The industry needs to explore all options, said Jack Brooks, who owns the J.M. Clayton Co. processing facility in Cambridge."

Read "Crab Houses Facing Picker Shortage Look To Inmates"

Judge limits state's ban on winter crab dredging

"Norfolk Circuit Court Judge Jack Doyle ruled late Friday that Virginia is empowered to ban winter dredging for conservation purposes - but only one year at a time, and only after an annual scientific review, public comment and a public vote.

His decision, while cheered by watermen, does not mean crab dredging will occur this year, beginning Dec. 1. Indeed, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission intends to bar such crabbing again in 2009 - and probably for several years after that, said John Bull, an agency spokesman.

What the ruling means, though, is that the state cannot just leave the door closed on winter dredging until officials are ready to open it, a vague outcome that would leave watermen powerless to influence future decisions." 

Read "Judge limits state's ban on winter crab dredging" 

In Md., an uneasy start to crabbing season

"The crab season's traditional April 1 start couldn't come soon enough for watermen like Pierce and Orr, who've endured a long, lean winter. But the season begins on a note of uncertainty, as fishers and biologists await news from a winterlong dredge survey of the bay's crab population to see whether it has rebounded from a perilously low level last year."

Read "In Md., an uneasy start to crabbing season"

 
 

U.S. Deters Hiring of Foreigners as Joblessness Grows

 

"Jack Brooks is the rare employer who calls himself "desperate to find people." Every year, the co-owner of the century-old J.M. Clayton Co. in Cambridge, Md., has relied on a dozen seasonal guest workers, mostly from Mexico, to pick the meat out of Maryland blue crabs all day long, March till November. But H-2B visas, as they are known, were all exhausted this year. So Mr. Brooks is trying to find Americans to do the job."

Read "U.S. Deters Hiring of Foreigners as Joblessness Grows"

Crab industry worries about few visas for pickers

"FISHING CREEK, Md. (AP) -- Because would-be crab pickers haven't been able to get temporary visas, many crab processing plants in Dorchester County are expected to stay closed when the season opens on April 1.

And Chesapeake Bay area watermen want First District U.S. Rep. Frank Kratovil to do something about the situation.

On Friday, about 150 watermen and people representing other industries met with Kratovil at the A.E. Phillips packing plant in Fishing Creek. Crab pickers, mostly from Mexico, would be working at the plant but federal red tape prevents their arrival."

Read "Crab industry worries about few visas for pickers"

Watermen seeking 'ghosts' of the bay

"Scientists estimate that more than 100,000 crab pots are abandoned — most are accidentally cut lose by boat propellers — annually off the shores of Virginia.

The traps, also known as "ghost" or "derelict" crab pots, fall to the bottom of the bay, where they attract crab and fish for a year until the steel dissolves into salt water."

Read "Watermen seeking 'ghosts' of the bay"

 
 

Watermen Inflated 2008 Crab Harvest Figures, Md. Alleges

 

"Maryland watermen inflated the number of blue crabs they reported catching last year, when it appeared a larger harvest might have led to less restrictive limits on their catch in future seasons, state regulators said yesterday."

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Angry crabber crowd: Don't freeze licenses

"The proposal that has everyone enraged has nothing to do with the harvest of female crabs. The state is proposing to temporarily freeze the licenses of some crabbers who have been inactive for years.

As at a meeting in Annapolis last week, men stood to say they had good reason for not crabbing: illness, full-time jobs, the high cost of bait and fuel, or waiting for retirement."

Read "Angry crabber crowd: Don't freeze licenses"

Plan would pay watermen to give up crabbing

"Virginia would spend $3 million in federal aid to buy back licenses from hundreds of watermen who agree to stop catching crabs from the Chesapeake Bay, according to a conservation plan proposed this week.

Under the plan, the state also would dedicate nearly $2 million to train and assist crabbers who want to try their hands at oyster farming. It would pay struggling watermen another $3 million over the next three years to cruise the Bay and pick up trash, abandoned crab traps and other marine debris."

Read "Plan would pay watermen to give up crabbing"

   

A shortage of hands

"FISHING CREEK - For nearly 20 years, this tiny watermen's village on Hoopers Island has been enlivened each spring by the arrival of several dozen Mexicans - women who bring with them tortillas and tamales, mariachi music and the hands that make the local economy go.

They do the dirty work of Maryland's seafood industry, spending long days picking the premium lump meat out of the blue crab - work that the men who run the seafood processing plants that dot the island say Americans won't do. To hear them tell it, the foreigners have meant the difference between life and death for the generations-old businesses on which the 500 or so year-round residents rely.

But this year, the crab houses could stay closed."

Read "A shortage of hands"
 

NOAA awards Maryland $10 Million for blue crabs

"ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service has awarded the State of Maryland $10 million in federal fishery disaster funding to help rescue Maryland's beleaguered Chesapeake Bay blue crab industry. Earlier this year, Governor Martin O'Malley worked closely with Maryland's Congressional Delegation to help secure a federal fisheries disaster declaration for the fishery and funding to mitigate the losses of the men and women the industry supports."

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Crab restrictions cripple Tangier watermen

"On late-autumn days, this tiny Chesapeake Bay island normally buzzes with workboat engines and the shouts of Tangier watermen in their Elizabethan dialect.

No more.

The docks and crab shanties on stilts lining the harbor are empty. The marine railway is a graveyard of boats laid up on oil drums for repairs that never will come. Dozens of other boats are for sale. On a recent afternoon, the only sounds in the harbor were the gulls and the horn blasts of a faraway channel buoy." 

Read "Crab restrictions cripple Tangier watermen"

800-plus Virginia watermen could lose crabbing licenses

"Under the latest regulation, approved late Tuesday by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission, more than 800 watermen will not be allowed to renew their crabbing licenses in 2009 - and for at least three years after that - if they did not catch crabs from 2004 to 2007."   

Read "800-plus Virginia watermen could lose crabbing licenses"

New state ban on dredging of crabs upheld by judge

"A judge sided with the Kaine administration Monday by rejecting pleas from watermen who wanted to keep dredging crabs from the Chesapeake Bay this winter, despite a state plan that bans such harvesting." 

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Virginia can get $10 million for watermen hurt by crab woes

"Virginia can receive up to $10 million in disaster relief for watermen and seafood merchants suffering from the blue crab crisis in the Chesapeake Bay, the federal government announced Tuesday.

Maryland also is eligible for $10 million in "fishery disaster" aid, money Congress approved earlier this fall in the wake of strict new harvest rules intended to stop a population crash of the renowned Chesapeake crab."

Read "Virginia can get $10 million for watermen hurt by crab woes"

 

 

Watermen fear for livelihoods with season off the water

 

"As he walked the deck of the Ella-K, which he pulled out of the water last week, Robert Hollowell spoke bitterly Friday about the decision to end winter dredging. He blamed special interests and "dumb politics" for putting his livelihood - and vessel - in jeopardy.

"I'd like to sell her to the governor," he said, "since he's the one who's putting us out of business." "

Read "Watermen fear for livelihoods with seasons off the water"

 

MARYLAND: State offers restoration work to watermen

"Maryland watermen are being offered bay restoration work to help them cope with economic losses arising from declining fish and crab catches.

“Temporarily employing watermen for environmental restoration projects will help preserve Maryland’s fishing industry infrastructure while the Chesapeake Bay’s blue crab population is rebounding,” said Gov. Martin O’Malley. “Utlizing their existing skills and equipment, watermen will help us improve more than 1,000 acres of oyster bars.”

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Crabbers feel regulations pinch

"Atlantic blue crabs, the beautiful swimmers of the Chesapeake Bay, are part of life in the region. They need to be preserved. But so do the lives and livelihoods of the crabbers who bring them to our tables. John Graham said he fears regulations could be the undoing of what is left of the industry, leaving behind part-time watermen selling crabs by the roadside as quaint reminders."

Read "Crabbers feel regulations pinch" 

Harvest pinched

   It promises to be sunny and warm - not ideal for catching crabs in the fall. "You want it blowing hard and cool," Mark Somers says.

But he needs to be crabbing this day because it's shaping up to be a bitter harvest - cut short by government regulations. In an attempt to rebuild what scientists say is a perilously low population of blue crabs in the bay, state officials have decreed that female crabs may not be caught after Oct. 22.
It promises to be sunny and warm - not ideal for catching crabs in the fall. "You want it blowing hard and cool," Somers says.

But he needs to be crabbing this day because it's shaping up to be a bitter harvest - cut short by government regulations. In an attempt to rebuild what scientists say is a perilously low population of blue crabs in the bay, state officials have decreed that female crabs may not be caught after Oct. 22."

Read "Harvest pinched"

Beset by problems, Tangier Island watermen calling it quits

"Dan Dise steered his skiff past empty crab shacks that line Tangier Harbor, the gateway to this historic fishing outpost in the Chesapeake Bay. "For Rent" and "For Sale" signs were taped to many of the dusty windows.

"That guy's on the tug," said Dise, president of the Tangier Island Watermen's Association, pointing to a lifeless shanty. "And that guy, too."

He paused, then noticed another vacant business along the channel. "And that guy just went on the tug last week," Dise said. "Seems like everyone's going." "

Read "Beset by problems, Tangier Island watermen calling it quits"

With hurricane damage in Gulf, blue crabbers catch a break

"Pushed by lawmakers from Virginia and Maryland, Congress has allocated $75 million to aid watermen and seafood merchants hit by "national fishery disasters" this year, including the Chesapeake Bay blue crab.  

It is the first time that Virginia has ever asked for such federal aid. North Carolina was allocated money for damage done to five fisheries, including crabs, following hurricanes Floyd and Dennis in 1999."

Read "With hurricane damage in Gulf, blue crabbers catch a break"

 

Bay blues

"Real improvement in the outlook for crabs or any bay residents depends on fixing the underlying conditions that threaten them. Despite all the "save the bay" rhetoric and promises of what would be achieved by 2010, the actual progress hasn't been anywhere near what's needed to make a major difference."

Read "Bay blues"

 
 

Commerce Department declares blue crab fishery a disaster

The Chesapeake Bay blue crab fishery was declared a federal disaster Tuesday, opening the door to possible loans and financial aid for struggling watermen and seafood businesses in Virginia and Maryland.  

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Return A Tag, Help BCRP and Get Rewards

The North Carolina Blue Crab Research Program (BCRP) currently is funding three blue crab tag-and-release projects. That means plenty of opportunities for crabbers to help generate data about migration patterns of blue crabs, as well as receive cash and prizes for each tag.

Below, find a list of projects, descriptions of tags, locations where crabs were released, contact information and rewards for each tagging project:

Watermen: Crabbing limits come at worst possible time

Jack Brooks, a fourth-generation crabber and owner of J.M. Clayton Co. in Cambridge, said limiting crabbing at this time of year is like closing a beach during the summer.

"October here is like going to Ocean City and saying, 'Hey, we're taking the month of July away from you,'" Brooks said. "We sell this crab meat that we pick in the winter months until the spring months arrive. . . . We're going to feel it, no question." 

Read "Watermen: Crabbing limits come at worst possible time"

Crab rules taking effect

New restrictions on the commercial harvest of female crabs in Maryland kick in Monday. The phased changes thrust watermen into a season-end quandary, and lead to a complete female prohibition that begins Oct. 23.

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VIRGINIA: Budget squeeze delays crab tagging plan

The state's belt-tightening has delayed a Virginia plan to better regulate blue crabs in the Chesapeake Bay.

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Locals study why blue crab numbers are declining

Blue crab harvests have fallen from an all-time high of 63.6 million pounds in 1996 to 21.3 million pounds last year, an inexplicable decline, said Lynn Henry, a marine biologist with the North Carolina Division of Marine Fisheries.

Read "Locals study why blue crab numbers are declining"

State crab industry feels pinch, looks for markets

The state’s blue crab industry is in serious trouble, if it isn’t dead already.

That’s how Nancy Lewis, co-owner of Lewis Luther & Son Crab Co. feels.

Continue reading "State crab industry feels pinch, looks for markets" »

The "No Market" declaration, announced to a stable of local watermen who catch crabs for Graham & Rollins but with ripple effects touching the Virginia industry, "basically means we can't buy any more crabs, so the guys might as well stay home," said Johnny Graham, a company vice president.

Read "Plenty of crabs, but the market doesn't show it"

 

As of Thursday afternoon, Virginia Marine Police officers had checked 2,000 crab pots, seized 160 of them for violations and written 75 summonses to watermen to appear before a magistrate. 

Read "Illegal crab pots are target of marine police crackdown"

Plenty of crabs, but the market doesn't show it

The "No Market" declaration, announced to a stable of local watermen who catch crabs for Graham & Rollins but with ripple effects touching the Virginia industry, "basically means we can't buy any more crabs, so the guys might as well stay home," said Johnny Graham, a company vice president.

Read "Plenty of crabs, but the market doesn't show it"

 

Illegal crab pots are target of marine police crackdown

As of Thursday afternoon, Virginia Marine Police officers had checked 2,000 crab pots, seized 160 of them for violations and written 75 summonses to watermen to appear before a magistrate. 

Read "Illegal crab pots are target of marine police crackdown"