Maryland's seafood industry is in crisis: Nearly half of the Eastern Shore’s crab houses have no workers to pick the meat sold in restaurants and supermarkets.
They failed to get visas for their mostly Mexican work force, including many women who have been coming north to Maryland for crab season for as long as two decades. The Trump administration for the first time awarded them this year in a lottery, instead of on a first-come, first-served basis.
“This is going to cause the price of crab meat to go out of sight,” said Harry Phillips, owner of Russell Hall Seafood on Hooper’s Island. “There’s not going to be hardly any Maryland crab meat.
“It looks like it’s a matter of time before they’re going to shut all of us down.”
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49 comments:
hire local?
MAGA !!!!!!!!!Let’s fill those positions with Americans!!!!!!!!
I saw a blip this am, a man (tolley?) said he can't afford to hire american workers. Maybe I just don't understand, but why can't he? I do not know a lot about the visa, but are they paid less than min wage?
So put these people laying around, collecting my tax money, to work. They can pick crabs. Well maybe they will eat all they pick.
If they pay the workers enough, they will find Americans to do it. It was almost all black ladies picking when I was in my twenties. Yes, crab meat will become more expensive.
Maybe it's time for Maryland to subsidize the hiring of LOCAL workers.
Hmmm, there's an idea. How about those able bodied people on welfare that are already living on the public dole.
9:26
They sure did a quick and thorough job of picking them too. I had the privilege of watching them once.
You have thousands sitting in prison while we foot the bill. As long as they are not violent criminals let them pick crabs. Probably not a good idea to put a knife in the hand of the violent ones though!.
They actually said - they can not afford to pay American workers.
So lets exploit foreign labor.
9:42 - Not to mention what they might do to the crab meat - no thank you!
9:42 Good idea. We get hard plastic knives when we go out to eat $40.00 crab dinner.
Load up some non violent prisoners and let them earn some money so when they get out they can have a start.
When the price goes up, only the rich and EBT folks will be able to buy crabmeat!
9:49 Ever heard of FICA? Foreign workers are exempt from FICA so the employer does not have to pay the extra 7.5% or worry about withholding taxes. So, they can afford to pay those workers much less for the same profit margins.
Otherwise, the local workers will demand at least minimum wage and the business owner will have to pass along added costs.
But whoever said using prisoners, might have a good point, except for having to account for knives.
There IS a solution if the bureaucrats will open up their minds and look outside the box.
there are no jobs in Hooper's Island but this guy can't find someone to employ? All I can say is try harder. All I can suggest is to just try harder. Somebody there needs a job!
9:42 AM have a great ideal. Utilize the paid work release inmates.
I get tired of them crying like babies. They don't have to rely on those Mexicans .
Haha yeah, your right!
That should mean bushel and 1/2 bushels will be cheap????
MD should have all the workers they need since MD is a sanctuary State for illegals.
when your industry relies on slave labor this is what happens. No crabs for you!
maybe this will help the crab population rebound.
Didn't these people have a back up plan? Now all they do is cry. They should. have had a secondary work force lined up.
Not exactly slave labor. You wouldn't believe all the perks they get from our govt.
the price is already out of sight!
I have not seen ads for crab pickers. Wouldnt mind doing it part time for extra cash myself
They sidelined american workers for more cheap labor. Pretending like no one wanted the jobs
I love to pick crabs... reminds me of my childhood picking crabs with my grandmom that we spent all day catching ... what's the pay? I'm only 1 person but I could pick about 100 a day oh and I'm American and could use the extra cash
555 ABSOLUTELY. Also see several crab boats in the bay..and they love season the color of money in ones' hand. Believe many have become very lazy in the past several years. Reality is now here and you must adjust to survive!
Trump will even tell you that!
I will definitely accept the lack of crab meat for the lack of third world Latinos.
Make unemployed welfare recipients take the picking jobs. I would even be willing to have the state subsidize child care for them.
"Anonymous said...
They actually said - they can not afford to pay American workers.
So lets exploit foreign labor.
May 4, 2018 at 9:49 AM"
Amen democrats are all the time lying because they all lie constantly about how they are the champions of human rights but herd immigrants up and make them work for slave wages. And the democrat votes all liars and incredibly stupid people believe they are for them.
So the cost of processed crab meat is going to go "sky high?" Economic principles dictate demand will go way down, if the price goes sky high. Know what that means? Less demand and lower prices for live crabs. Good news indeed, for us local folks.
By the time this is resolved the crab population will have skyrocketed to an all time high.What's wrong with that?
Foriegn Students.
The owners of the crab houses got big tax breaks from trump. They won't pay what it takes to hire americans. So much for america first.
LAY OFF SOME OF THE OVER PAID TEACHERS AND LET THEM WORK PICKING CRAB MEAT.
Great idea. Danielle Green should be first to be picking.
Exploiting foreign works is just fine with Democrats.
“It looks like it’s a matter of time before they’re going to shut all of us down.”
If you have to hire foreigners and illegals, so be it.
You have a problem. If you can't find legit. workers to pick your crab meat, that's on you. Don't blame the govt. You sound like a typical crying seafood processor that I saw on tv.
Except the local folks catching them
What a shame we can't find enough foreign workers to meet the crabmeat demands of the Americans who won't take a job picking but will buy crab meat with their EBT cards.
Sounds like Philips just told the world they use out of country labor to pick local crabs. If their labor was American to start with they wouldn't be having this issue. Maybe this is a job for the prisoners.
shame on the crab industry exploiting foreign labor! And here I thought democrats were against this! This is democrats again proving they are nothing but constant liars and stand for nothing at all except obstructing the forward movement of the country. Democrats need to sit down and shut up. They have never and will not ever contribute anything positive to society. Just look at what democrats have done to all the major cities.
Instead of worrying about having enough crabmeat,people should be more concerned about WHERE the crab comes from.
A lot of local resellers are buying them directly and repacking them as Maryland crabs
3:23 Or slaves. The black women stopped working for next to nothing.
The foreign labor force are not exploited. They make out pretty good when you consider all the handouts they get from the govt. The seafood processors make out great also.
What handouts? Please elaborate with facts and sources of information otherwise you are just another loud mouth repeating false information.
6:38 So Bill Gates and Steve Jobs didn't contribute anything positive to society? STFU. You are too dumb to be allowed to vote. Owners of the crab picking houses are locals and republicans.
Free health care, ebt cards, just to get started. You are the loud mouth with no common sense
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