TANGIER iSLAND
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."
"Going on the tug" means taking a job off the island aboard tug boats that ferry fuel and cargo up and down the Bay, a move that more and more Tangier watermen are reluctantly taking these days. They leave for two weeks, then return for two weeks. No one seems to like the arrangement.
The phrase also has come to symbolize a summer of discontent on the island, as crabbers are hanging up their traps and moving on to something else, frustrated by government regulations, rising fuel costs and shrinking profits.
A similar exodus is affecting Smith Island, the other big fishing hub in the middle of the Bay, six miles north of Tangier in Maryland waters. Many watermen there are working as prison guards on the Eastern Shore, or as truck drivers, or as carpenters.
The meltdown has been coming for years, as state regulators and scientists have tried, with little success, to revive ailing crab stocks with ever-tightening catch rules - rules that most Tangiermen, as they call themselves, sneer at as silly and esoteric.
"There are fewer and fewer guys catching crabs," said Dise, "so, of course, the catch numbers are going to be down - there's less of us out there!
"But they see the numbers as proof that we're in a crisis, that there's hardly any crabs left in the Bay."
The dilemma boiled over this year, when the governors of Virginia and Maryland pressed for limits intended to reduce the harvest of female crabs by 34 percent. Without such drastic action, the governors argued, the entire crab population could crash, taking jobs and seafood markets with it.
Among the new regulations adopted by the Virginia Marine Resources Commission is a proposed end to winter crab dredging - a practice that many Tangier watermen have relied on for income in the cold winter months for more than 100 years.
"You take that away and we're basically without work, without anything, from November through April," said Tony Pruitt, whose grandfather was one of the first crab dredgers in the early 1900s. "I mean, what are we supposed to do?"
Pruitt, like others, has had to go on the tug to make ends meet.
It is no surprise that many crabbers here can barely contain themselves when the name Timothy M. Kaine comes up. Most snort or chuckle wryly when asked about the governor.
In interviews, many said they think Kaine "got suckered" by Maryland officials, who long have tried to get Virginia to stop dredging, which mostly affects female crabs that hibernate at the southern end of the Bay in wintertime.
Left unsaid in the debate, the watermen note, is that Virginia, by nature, is home to mostly female crabs; the state's catch is typically 70 percent female. Maryland, by contrast, hosts mostly males; its catch is about 30 percent female.
"We get screwed and Maryland gets all the crabs" that are left to migrate north up the Bay, Pruitt said. "Real smart, eh?"
Kaine, a Democrat, visited the island last summer, before the crab crackdown, to announce funding for a new health clinic. He was warmly received. But no more.
"You can tell Kaine to go to hell!" said one idle waterman, sitting outside the Tangier Oil and Fuel Co. on a recent afternoon.
The mayor of Tangier Island, James Eskridge, is a waterman. So is Dise, the vice mayor, who, at 30, is one of the youngest commercial fisherme n left on the island. Most other young adults have left for jobs on the mainland.
Dise recently replaced Jeff Crockett as president of the Tangier Island Watermen's Association. Crockett, a fisherman all his life, has gone on the tug.
"I don't fool with crabs anymore," he said. "They've restricted us so much, you can't make any money at it anymore."
For years, Crockett would make the long trip to Newport News, where the state marine commission meets each month, to argue against proposed rules and regulations. He often came home empty-handed.
"That whole process just about wore me out," he said.
Mayor Eskridge was tending his shedding tanks the other day, watching and waiting for hundreds of peeler crabs to shed their hard shells and become soft-shell crabs - a delicacy that can bring as much as $30 per dozen.
Stray cats wandered about his piers, as they do around much of the island. Eskridge has named them after conservative political figures - Sam Alito, John Roberts, Condi Rice.
He said he tried to work with the Kaine administration before the crab crackdown came earlier this spring.
"They told me to come up with some alternative ideas, which we did," Eskridge recalled. "And then they passed what they wanted to pass anyway."
The mayor said he still is hoping the state "eases back a little" on its restrictions, and has e-mailed his suggestions to several officials. He has asked for just a partial closing of winter dredging, and an additional two weeks of crabbing in November, instead of ending the season early on Oct. 27.
Eskridge and Dise estimate that half of the island's crabbers, or about 70 watermen, have left the industry in the past two years. Most got out this summer, they said.
Some are staying put and helping to run family businesses, such as the fueling station, several bed-and-breakfasts and the handful of local shops. The rest are working aboard tug boats.
The famous Double Six, a weather-beaten little store where watermen gather for coffee and supplies before sunrise, will open this fall for oyster season, with an idle waterman helping to manage the place.
Tangier Island has survived similar economic transitions in its long history.
The island was discovered in 1608 - residents celebrated a 400th anniversary earlier this year - by Captain John Smith, the famous English explorer. When Tangier was finally settled, in 1686, cattle were the primary economic engine.
By the 1800 census, 79 people lived on the island, most of whom were farmers.
It wasn't until the 1840s that fishing became a way of life, and the population boomed - to 589 in 1880, to more than 1,064 in 1900, according to historical accounts.
The population today - 573 - is about the same as in 1880.
Islanders worry, though, that modern times and evolutionary changes, such as the slow erosion of the Tangier shoreline and the sea-level rise from global warming, might be too much to overcome this time.
"You gotta keep trying. Y ou gotta keep working," said Dise, when asked about the future. "What other choice do we have?"
Scott Harper, (757) 446-2340, scott.harper@pilotonline.com
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Islanders and Indians
It seems to me that the people of Tangier and Smith Island are getting removed from thier land by goverment force, just like the indians! with the exception being that Virginia and Maryland is using the force of regulations instead of guns. and the watermen don't have enough money to fight back. it makes no sense with a bad economy why would the states put people out of work!
Supply and demand.
Supply and demand. A basic principle that applies to a small island economy as well as a larger entity. Demand for crabs is now greater than the supply. Analogy: We have put one to many fish in the aquarium and thus have fouled the water. The size of the Chesapeake Bay has remained the same, however, the population of the United States and the World is over taxing our natural resources.
not so fast prairiedog
"So stop crying your eyeballs out and do something different. You are still young enough to serve in the military. They will take you and maybe you could serve in Iraq or Afghanistan. huh?"
I'm willing to bet you have never been to Tangier Island. The majority of the people who call Tangiere home and have for centuries are the elderly. Tangiere is not a failing neighborhood just around the corner, its a way of life, it's homes, cementaries, churces, restaurants, and the people there live a very quiet and quaint life unlike the neighborhood around the corner. Many of these people will die on their homeland and never move to the mainland. You really should vist them and see for yourself, the charm of Tangier Island.
Maryland
Up here in Maryland we've got plenty of crabs but nobody is buying them because they think by not consuming crabs they are 'Saving the Bay'. The government of Maryland caused this problem with their constant meddling. First a Rockfish moratorium so watermen caught more crabs and oysters then MSX and Dermo killed the oysters. What was left but crabs? The Watermen took more crabs (They have to make a living) but the rebounded Rockfish ate a lot of what was left of the crabs until the moratorium was lifted. Now things have rebounded but nobody is catching crabs because there is nobody to buy them. Since the numbers are down now it's a Federal 'Crisis' and more meddling by do-gooder burocrats is on the way.
OceanScienceGuy
My only qualm with your plan is that we can't *all* work for the public sector as the private sector caves in. That generates no revenue at all and we could go broke like Iceland (who really are trying to do the private sector, but they seem in over their heads, too). Cheers, MGM
An invitation to prairiedog...
...who seems to have questions about the willingness of Tangier Islanders to serve their country. Perhaps he'd like to take that up with the mayor - whose brother, killed in Viet Nam, is interred in the church cemetery. Or perhaps with the parents of the young man who just returned from Iraq and who received a standing ovation when he was recognized during a worship service at Swain Memorial United Methodist Church. Or with the island parents of an officer who has served in both Iraq and Afganistan. Here's an invitation to attend Tangier Island's next Memorial Day service, to hear the solemn roll call of residents who lost their lives in service, and to read the hundreds of names on monuments recognizing other islanders who have served. Perhaps that - and many other claims to a rich heritage - will help explain the attachment of watermen to this special place. More than a job, it's a way of life.
Proper management of our natural resources will work
It worked with the striped bass.....it should work with the crabs.
dust bowl...
You know, when the Dust Bowl happened you had people pack up and move west. You had some stay. Eventually they were able to get back to farming with new tools and knowledge about crop rotation.
It's sad but sometimes you have to move to where the work is. I've never been at want for a job. The year I was unemployed I was working on my degree. Sometimes, no matter the link to the land, you just have to pack up and go.
I feel sorry only for those that complain and stay. Oppertunities abound, but you have to be willing to pull up stakes, hitch up the wagon, and start heading on out. Or, stay where you are and wait. Either way, the choice is yours...
too much government
The problem is that there is too much government..rules and regulations created with bias; these are not informed decisions. These people don't care if they destroy a way of life, if people can't eat. Pollution is a big problem with the Bay; and since entities like the VMRC can't place controls on such things as those states whose polluted rivers are emptying into the Bay, they're going to control what(who)they can... the watermen. As far as there being life off that island....says who?!? Rush hour traffic, road rage, crime and general rudeness is NOT the perfect way of life; don't disregard them just because they don't live the way you and I do.
"as crabbers are hanging up their traps"
and moving on to something else, frustrated by government regulations, rising fuel costs,shrinking profits and OVERFISHING OF THE RESOURCE BY THE WATERMAN!!!!
Get Waterman Invovled in the Gov Funded Bay Restoration Work!!!
It's a shame that so many waterman are going through tough times, and tradition is lost, etc, but it's obvious that the harvest cannot be sustained under the current practices...I don't think you need to be a scientist to understand that dredging up hibernating female crabs (that could potential create thousands of new crabs) is going contribute to a drop in population. Since there have been MILLION$ allocated for Bay restoration research over the years by state and feds, why don't we get the waterman involved? There is a roll for them! All of the research scientists contributing to Bay restoration efforts require many trips on vessels to conduct field studies and other restoration activity....there are lots of brilliant scientists, who are good with the theory and such, but would get lost in there own backyard...why don't they team up with the guys who know the waterways the best, and have boats available ...I think this seems like a great plan….of course, it would require some good leadership and organization however. Pilot readers, please share your thoughts with me – Ocean Science Guy
Prairie Dog
I am military, too, but I think your comments went too far. For some reason, when the VP focuses on one group, people from other groups who have issues feel compelled to write in and say that the article should have included *all* people who are having trouble getting jobs, etc. Well, the VP eventually gets around to *all* people! They hit the teen sector the other day, too, and how hard it is to get a job at a fast food restaurant for them right now. So the reporting is balanced, over time, but focuses on one group at a time. That is how they can include the beautiful descriptions of Tangier Island, etc., with the article and give us a sense of how things have changed. I really loved this article and didn't think it took away anything from my military service at all! Cheers, MGM
Bail
Why not bail these people out. After all, we are a socialist country now.
Sad Ending
When I read 'stories' like this it makes my Soul cringe. Another 'Way of Life' forgotten.
In 10 years , the 'Tangier Way Of Life' will be forgotten. Its a tradition that SHOULD go on. What is more satisfying than to have a connection to Nature and being able to make a living at the same time.
More and more we see Farmers being FORCED to sell to the Corporate Combine's. Now this............
One question?
Who will remember HOW to work the Land, harvest the sea's, BE self-sufficient without succumbing to Corporate America ?
I'm sure a Commercial will re-assure me.....................
Watermen / Crabbers
It's tough to discontinue a life that has existed for 3 or 4 generations and I'm saddened by the reasons. However, the crabbers are not alone in their dilemma. Too many workers must pack up and start a new way of life. I feel for the waterman but no more than the auto makers, technical electronics manufacturers, furniture workers, textile workers and a hundred more I could name. So stop crying your eyeballs out and do something different. You are still young enough to serve in the military. They will take you and maybe you could serve in Iraq or Afghanistan. huh?
Fishermen - Businessmen - WHICH?
Fishing for profit has gone the way of the Bison because bigger boats needed bigger catches and the Bay is limited.
the larger problem
The problem is larger than Tangier Island. The Chesapeake Bay has been over-fished for two centuries. To use an agrarian metaphor: you reap what you sow. Tsk, tsk.
it's really sad
I love Tangier Island, and the people who reside there, but over the years (at last ten) the population has deminished. Young people don't want to live there and feel there is nothing to offer. They are right! The island is a beautiful part of history, and my heart goes out to them and the struggles they face.
Sad, but true
You can't live on an island forever...there's a whole world outside.
Not Good
What most of us and perhaps the people of Tangier Island viewed as progress at times during the last century appears to have contributed
to ending possibly a part of Chesapeake Bay history and a way of life.
Overpopulation, overdevelopment along the bay caused more contamination which led to the decline of reproduction of many species of marine life. High demand for seafood led to overharvesting the declining supply. Hopefully the people of Tangier will manage to preserve the island as it is and not become a part of forgotten history.
I'd like to see less micro-management.
Half the time our presumptions, no matter how scientific, are simply wrong. If the the rest of the time we get it right, what's the real difference, in the end? The real difference is, when government micro-manages, we have greatly increased overhead (i.e. increased need for tax revenues) and a decreased sense of fairness and freedom.
A nice story.
How bittersweet. God bless them.