"It ain't just the bay that's threatened. It's the watermen. We're getting to be an endangered species."

—Tucker Brown, Maryland Waterman

The condition of the Chesapeake Bay has changed dramatically from the abundance described by Captain John Smith in 1608 when he wrote,. “…neither better fish, more plenty, nor more variety for small fish, had any of us seene in any place so swimming in the water…”

Today’s watermen are faced with environmental regulations, declining oyster, blue crab, and fish populations, and the increasingly endangered waters of the nation’s largest estuary. Because the declining fishing and crabbing industries are on the verge of collapse, so too are the livelihoods and way of life of these watermen and women. Photographer, Glen McClure, has captured the power, dignity, and spirit of these watermen in his striking portraits of what could be an “endangered species.”

Click on the arrows to view images from the exhibition. 

The Chesapeake Bay was formed at the end of the last ice age as melting glaciers filled the Susquehanna River Valley. It is the largest estuary in the United States and the third largest in the world. It is home to 3,600 different species of plants and animals, and nearly 17 million people. But the bay is suffering; and this has resulted in a number of endangered species both in its waters and along the shores. 

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  Waterman Public Image Gallery
 

Larry Hamblin
Willis Wharf, Virginia

Larry Hamblin was born, raised, and lives in Willis Wharf, Virginia. He is at his boat with his dog, Bubba, who he says is “all I’ve got” since Mr. Hamblin’s wife died this past January. He’s 69 years old, and when asked about his ancestors’ relationship with the water, says his dad was born “on a shell pile,” meaning that his fathers' family were watermen whose house was built on piles of oyster shell on Hog Island.

Mike Clair
Chincoteague Wharf, Virginia

Mike Clair backed his small truck as close as he could to the wharf’s refrigerator door, then he grabbed a shovel from where it was leaning against the building, and began shoveling crushed ice chips from the refrigerator onto the boxes of seafood in his truck’s covered bed. Mike is from Saxis, and has been fishing for soft crabs, and working peeler pots and crab pots for 25 years. He will haul his catch to Maryland and sell it there today. He’s skeptical of the future for watermen and believes young people don’t want to work the water. He simply does not see them out here, because he thinks that the work is too rough, the payback too low, and that there are too many regulations.  

Donald Loveless
Fishing Creek, Dorchester County, Maryland

Donald, 39, is a fifth-generation waterman. He hangs nets, builds boats, and oysters and gill nets in the winter. Today he is trotlining for crabs in the tributaries in Maryland near Hooper’s Island. He’s baiting his line with salted bull lips, which do not break down quickly when waterlogged. This provides a better motivation for the crabs to hang on once the line is being raised. His boat is named the SS Gumby. Donald is very knowledgeable about the Maryland fishing and crabbing regulations, and expresses his willingness to help keep the fish and crab populations healthy.

Danny Balderson
Reedville, Virginia

Danny Balderson, 38, is the engineer and pilot of the Hush Puppy, a snapper rig that's usually moored at Ray Rodger's dock. Today the Hush Puppy is being repaired, so Danny's working as a mechanic on the other boats and equipment. He has been working the water for 18 years and comes from a long line of Reedville watermen.

Bob Evans
Churchton-Shady Side in Anne Arundel County, Maryland

Bob Evans was born near Annapolis and grew up on a farm on the South River Creek. Bob, 56, owns a boat or two, and has a partner, “Shaq” Jones. Together they crab using 700 to 800 crab pots. Bob also hangs gill nets and pound nets. This fall, Bob will travel to New Bedford to receive the National Fisherman magazine’s annual Highliner Award, an honor that for 35 years has recognized fishermen for their “overarching contributions to their industry and to their communities.” Bob can be philosophical with such phrases as, “What I like is trying to figure nature out” and “Don’t leave your gear where it is today—put it where you’ll need it tomorrow.”

Anthony "Shaq" Jones
Churchton-Shady Side in Anne Arundel County, Maryland

“Shaq” Jones is Bob Evans’ partner, and has been working the water since he was 14. His grandfather and father also worked with Evans back when the Jones family was also tobacco farming. Out on the West River today, Shaq has been crabbing since 6 A.M., and it’s now 1 P.M. Jones and Evans crab-pot in the summer, and in the winter, they dredge oysters and catch fish. What kind of fish? The Patuxent River catfish, of course.

Robert Lawson
Willis Wharf, Virginia

Robert Lawson, 18, lives in Bell's Neck. His father works on the water, but definitely wants Robert to finish school and go to college in the fall of 2010. Robert thinks that even with a college education, he will choose to stay in a marine occupation. Perhaps even clam aquaculture, which is what he's doing today in Willis Wharf, on the seaside of Virginia's Eastern Shore. 

Carol Hogge
Deep Creek Wharf, Newport News, Virginia

Carol has been working with her husband, Robert, since August 2009, when she quit waitressing. She loves working the water with him, and like him, was born and raised in the Deep Creek area of Newport News. Their boat is named Miss Carol’s Toy. She says that watermen are like farmers, they both harvest as well as plant—in the watermen’s case, oyster seed.

Nelson Firth Sr.
Poquoson, Virginia

Nelson Firth, Sr. eats fish or other types of seafood every day. He’s been working on the water since he was 9, but at 89, is slowing down a bit. He was an oysterman and crabber in his day, as was his father. His children are all watermen or married to a waterman. They all live within a few minutes’ walk of each other in Poquoson, and one of them has cooked supper for “Mr. Nelson” every evening since his wife died. The Firths are committed to this land and river and this way of life.

Junius Barnes
Amory's Seafood, Hampton, Virginia

Junius Barnes, from Portsmouth, Virginia, and his brother and father all work at Amory’s Seafood. Junius is 52 years old and has been at Amory's for 20 years. The seafood is shipped from Amory’s to Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and St. Louis in refrigerated trucks. And at Thanksgiving time, the oysters go out fast and furious.

Kenneth Smith
Old Point Packing, Newport News, Virginia

Kenneth Smith’s dad, Daniel Selby, works at Old Point Packing as dock foreman, and helped get Kenneth a job about a year ago; they commute together from Chesapeake. While he likes working near the water, the 19-year-old still wants to try doing other jobs – construction work or maybe learn to be a professional mechanic.

Alvin Stoops Jr.
Saxis Island, Virginia

Alvin Stoops, Jr. will be 50 in October. His father was one of the original “peeler guys”, who organized the peeler catching and shedding system used on Saxis Island, Virginia. Alvin has dredged for clams from Cape Charles to New Jersey.  He has worked on clam boats and hand-tonged for oysters – he says he likes variety. But he did marry the same girl twice.