Tag Archives: J.M. Clayton Seafood Company
Proposed Pilot Program For Female Blue Crabs
A new pilot program introduced by the Department of Natural Resources has watermen frustrated. It’s with the possible implementation of plastic, rectangular containers called lugs. Currently, caught male blue crabs are able to be placed in lugs, but females are not. So watermen feel the program comes with a lot of hoops to jump through and they ask why the need for the program at all. Lugs are bigger than your typical bushel basket of crabs. Bushels hold about 40 pounds and lugs hold 60. DNR has introduced the idea of using lugs for female crabs. But with that comes rules that participating watermen (in the pilot program) must follow. >click to read< 12:30
Md. crabbing industry fears long-term impacts of 2020 visa shortages – “Finding Americans that are willing to do this job, it’s not happening.”
Maryland’s famous crab industry is facing an uphill battle. With another year of visa caps, there’s a severe shortage of migrant workers to work as crab pickers ― and few Americans willing to do the job. This year, Maryland crabbers fear for the life of an industry that has been in their families for generations. Only nine crab processors ― which represent 95% of the state’s crab meat production ― remain in Maryland. The processors ― or picking houses ― rely on about 500 foreign seasonal workers to pick crabmeat each year. To work in the United States those workers need H-2B visas designated for temporary non-agricultural workers. >click to read< 18:54
