The seafood industry in Maryland is in crisis, with over 50% of crab houses on the Eastern Shore having no workers available to pick the meat, which is sold in supermarkets and restaurants. The industry was unable to get US visas for their workforce, which consists predominantly of Mexicans, including some women who have headed to Maryland during the crab season for more than 20 years.
The US visas were this year awarded in a lottery rather than the previous ‘first come, first served’ system by the Trump administration, which the owner of Hooper Island’s Russell Hall Seafood, Harry Phillips, says is going to dramatically cut the amount of Maryland meat available and send prices through the roof. Phillips adds that it seems inevitable now that they will eventually be closed down.
The crab industry has long had issues because of the shortage of US visas since the last generation of women from the Eastern Shore, who had once been responsible for picking the crab meat, became too old to continue such work. Crab houses began bringing in Mexican immigrant workers during the 1980s but say they have never faced such dire circumstances before.
The crab industry is pinning its hopes on more US visas being issued by the federal immigration officials in response to the massively increased demand for seasonal immigrant workers. But, they fear that they will not be able to cope if they end up having to take part in another US visa lottery.