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Mar. 2008 · Volume 7 Number 1

Volume 7 Number 1

Bringing It All Back Home

Seafood & the Bay

Jack Greer

The Chesapeake seafood business was the lifeblood for many Bayside settlements. Up any good-sized creek or cove a traveler would find watermen's workboats, crab shedding floats, oyster shucking houses. Some eked out a living along the shore, others launched full-fledged seafood businesses and prospered. Either way, those who harvested, processed, and sold Chesapeake seafood shaped a rich waterside culture soon known around the country. They passed on a heritage of sleek workboats, weather-toughened watermen, and legends of bountiful fish and shellfish. That heritage is now threatened by dwindling stocks, labor shortages, and global competition. Chesapeake Quarterly is produced and funded by the Maryland Sea Grant College Program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the state of Maryland. Editors, Jack Greer and Michael W. Fincham; Managing Editor and Art Director, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editor, Erica Goldman; Science Writer, Jessica Smits more . . .

A Chesapeake Seafood Sampler

Striped Bass (Morone saxatilis)

What's better than local seafood, eaten fresh and close to where it's caught? There is just something special about the taste of home. Not only that, but local food doesn't burn a lot of fuel to get to our plates. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Greer and Michael Fincham; Science Writers, Erica Goldman and Jessica Smits. more . . .

Bay's Labor Lost

Jack Greer

Seafood processors now look to foreign seasonal workers to help fill the shrinking ranks of local oyster shuckers and crab pickers. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Greer and Michael Fincham; Science Writers, Erica Goldman and Jessica Smits. more . . .

The Phillips Story

Jack Greer

It's hard to talk about imported crabmeat without talking about the Phillips family. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Greer and Michael Fincham; Science Writers, Erica Goldman and Jessica Smits. more . . .

A Good Catch

Jessica Smits

Woodberry Kitchen won't open its doors for another two hours, but for Chef Spike Gjerde the pressure is on. There are vegetables to prep, the day's menu to finalize, and his forty pounds of Alaskan sockeye salmon is still on its way. The restaurant specializes in cuisine made from local and sustainable ingredients. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Greer and Michael Fincham; Science Writers, Erica Goldman and Jessica Smits. more . . .

Eat This Fish, Not That Fish

Jessica Smits

The sustainable seafood movement planted its roots in the late 1980s when advocacy group Earth Island Institute implored consumers to boycott tuna in response to the common practice of setting nets around dolphins feeding on the fish. Inspiring the dolphin-safe label on canned tuna, the boycott served as the first indication that consumer demand could effect a real sea change. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Greer and Michael Fincham; Science Writers, Erica Goldman and Jessica Smits. more . . .

Blue Crabs Online

Erica Goldman

Tom Rippen, a seafood technology specialist for Maryland Sea Grant Extension, has been helping Greg Cain determine the safest and most cost-effective way to ship his wares long distances. For Rippen, helping a small business owner like Cain also helps the traditional Maryland industry maintain a toehold in a globalizing economy, where workforce issues and competition from overseas have put the squeeze on local watermen and processors. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Greer and Michael Fincham; Science Writers, Erica Goldman and Jessica Smits. more . . .

Sharpening the Crab's Competitive Edge

Erica Goldman

From his lab in the Food Science and Technology Department at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne, Tom Rippen works multiple angles of innovation to help the crab industry. Adapting to forces of change is the key to keeping Maryland crabs competitive in today's economic climate, he says. And that adaptation needs to happen on many fronts. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Greer and Michael Fincham; Science Writers, Erica Goldman and Jessica Smits. more . . .

Safe Seafood in the Chesapeake Bay

Jessica Smits

Nutritionists recommend fish as an important part of a balanced diet. But the presence of environmental contaminants like mercury and PCBs has led government agencies and environmental groups to advise consumers to limit consumption of some types of fish. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Greer and Michael Fincham; Science Writers, Erica Goldman and Jessica Smits. more . . .

Knauss Fellow for 2008

The 2008 Maryland recipient of a Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship is Terra Lederhouse, a graduate student in Marine-Estuarine-Environmental Studies (MEES) at the University of Maryland College Park. She will work in the NOAA Fisheries Office of International Affairs. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Greer and Michael Fincham; Science Writers, Erica Goldman and Jessica Smits. more . . .

Video Spotlights

Photograph courtesy of Robin Olson, www.robinsweb.com
This slender channel between Kent Island and the Eastern Shore was once a seafood center where 14 busy seafood houses bought oysters and crabs from hundreds of watermen. Only one seafood house and one shipping house are still open, but a new Maryland Watermen's Monument has now gone up here to honor all the men and women who once worked these waters -- and the few dozen who still do. Chesapeake Quarterly, Maryland Sea Grant's quarterly magazine, reports on research, extension, education and other Chesapeake Bay issues and activities of interest to the marine community. It is produced and funded by this program, which receives support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Managing Editor, Sandy Rodgers; Contributing Editors, Jack Greer and Michael Fincham; Science Writers, Erica Goldman and Jessica Smits. more . . .