Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Carlin Stiehl / Ohio University, “Maryland's Watermen”Story Description: Maryland's watermen have faced environmental and economic challenges for well over 100 years and have proven their ability to adapt. Yet, 2020 has tested watermen communities in unprecedented ways. The coronavirus has forced economic strain on a delicately balanced industry of supply and demand and highlighted the challenges watermen have long faced for generations trying to preserve their culture. Some claim that the last watermen are working the Chesapeake Bay at this moment, as their average age skews older and older. The future for Maryland watermen is uncertain, yet the faith and commitment of those who rise to work the Chesapeake Bay persists. The house of Nick Hargrove, a partner at Wild Divers Seafood, lies behind a pile of oyster shells in Wittman Wharf, Md. The shells are recycled as fresh bottom for baby oysters to attach to and grow from in the aquaculture process, a growing industry in the Chesapeake region. At its peak in the late 1800s, roughly 20 million bushels were pulled from the Bay each year, but over-harvesting, disease and habitat loss have reduced the oyster population to less than 1% of historic levels.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Carlin Stiehl / Ohio University, “Maryland’s Watermen”Latino workers under the H-2B visa program have their temperature checked before picking crab at Russel Hall Seafood Co, Inc on Fishing Creek, Md. COVID-19 has forced seafood businesses to adapt to new social distancing and health protocols, creating a struggle with maintaining safety for their workers and sustaining local seafood economies.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Carlin Stiehl / Ohio University, “Maryland’s Watermen”Hector Rene Modueño, left, and Edgar Riber transfer menhaden from a pound net into Captain Boo Polly’s boat near the shore of St. Mary’s County, Md. The process of transferring fish onto the boat is physically intensive, leaving the crew wading waist deep in menhaden on the ride to the processing plant. Menhaden are considered one of the most important fisheries in the Chesapeake despite not being harvested for human consumption. Instead they are used in products like fish oil supplements, cosmetics, and bait for other fisheries. Polly said the price of menhaden is down this season, which he attributes to the economic constraints of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Carlin Stiehl / Ohio University, “Maryland’s Watermen”Mark Kitching looks out at the sunrise while crabbing at dawn around the waters of Smith Island, Md. Kitching relies on years of first-hand observation and local knowledge to weather the unpredictability of good and bad fishing years. “It’s an industry where one year you feel like you are on top of the world and another you could not be,” Kitching said. COVID-19 has created unprecedented challenges for watermen already working in a diminishing economy; yet, according to Kitching, “faith has always been something for us to make a living out of, and it hasn’t let us down.”
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Carlin Stiehl / Ohio University, “Maryland’s Watermen”A crab scrape harvests blue crabs near Smith Island. Bay grasses are the foundation of the Chesapeake ecosystem, and has they continue to rebound due to pollution reductions, it means more habitat for blue crabs and other wildlife. The scrape consists of a net that is dragged across the underwater grasses in a way that doesn’t damage the sea bottom.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Carlin Stiehl / Ohio University, “Maryland’s Watermen”Latino visa workers pick crabs at Russell Hall Seafood in Fishing Creek, Md. Russell Hall is one of only two out of the five picking houses on Hoopers Island that were awarded visas for workers this year. Mark Phillips, son of Russel Hall owner Harry Phillips, says “it doesn’t just hurt his business, but the whole community,” as watermen have fewer places to offload their catch. “We’ve had job fairs everywhere, Baltimore to Washington, people just aren’t going to do it,” Phillips said. “If I had to run this business and rely on Americans, I’d sell it today.”
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Carlin Stiehl / Ohio University, “Maryland’s Watermen”Arby Holland smokes a cigarette on the patio with Sharlene Thornton, while his wife Debbie peaks outside to check on customers at Arby’s Dockside Grill on Deal Island, Md. Like many fishing towns, Arby’s is the only location on Deal Island where locals can get food and supplies. Since the pandemic began, shelves of tackle remain empty, but the store also functions as a bar and grill that has been doing well because it is the “only place to sell” crabs, Holland said.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Carlin Stiehl / Ohio University, “Maryland’s Watermen”Jozie Wilson works the storefront at Wittman Wharf Seafood in Wittman. The company opened a storefront at its shucking house location in response to Covid-19, as restaurant closures hurt their business profits. The move was a success, as news of the store spread to the local community and calls started coming from states as far away as New York according to Marc Van Pelt, a partner in the business.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Carlin Stiehl / Ohio University, “Maryland’s Watermen”Clyde “Butch” Walters and his wife MaeBelle sit for a portrait in their crab shanty in Chance, Md. Family photos and their children’s drawings hang above them. Since COVID-19, their business has been at the mercy of a market where “No one’s buying, Butch said. The couple have sold blue crabs together for 38 years, but between their three children, “none of them want to take over the business,” Butch said. “We will probably have to sell.”
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Carlin Stiehl / Ohio University, “Maryland’s Watermen”The graveyard of Holland Island Methodist Church is one of the last visible remains of the community that once inhabited the island. Holland Island has been sinking into the Chesapeake as the landmass is eroded away by heavy winds, seas, and storms.
Second Place, Feature Picture Story - Carlin Stiehl / Ohio University, “Maryland’s Watermen”Kevin and Lou Czarniewy enjoy a sunset on the beach away from the confined lifestyle of Washington during the pandemic at the Deal Island Marina on Deal Island, Md. For 12 years they have owned a second home in Deal Island, where they enjoy the area’s natural beauty. An influx of “summer home” owners has become more common in historic watermen communities. Behind them lies a pile of oyster shells used for bottom in oyster aquaculture. Shell piles were once seen all over the Chesapeake, reminiscent of a booming industry and an immense oyster population that is now less than 1% of historic levels.
