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History & Lore
Since the mid 1800's, Maryland Blue crabs have been caught commercially in the Chesapeake Bay area. They are now harvested from the mid Atlantic region to Florida and in Gulf states as far west as Texas. From time to time the competition between Maryland and Virginia watermen over territorial crabbing rights has erupted into unpleasantness. This was immortalized in the novel Chesapeake by James Michener. But by and large, today crabbers respect each other's pots and recognize the mutual need for cooperation on the water.
Yet Crisfield, Maryland is still known as the "Crab Capitol of the World" because the main industry there is crab meat. The locals continue to ply the water, shipping both live crabs and picked steamed crab meat all over the world. Every year on Labor Day weekend they hold the National Hard Crab Derby with crab races, a boat parade, a beauty pageant, as well as cooking and picking contests. It is known as a "must go" for any politician wanting the vote of residents of the Lower Shore.
Read More About Life On The Bay
& The Maryland Blue Crab Check your local library or book seller for copies of these books that were referenced for this website: An Island Out of Time - A Memoir of Smith Island in the Chesapeake by Tom Horton 1996 - Random House, New York - Non Fiction Beautiful Swimmers: Watermen, Crabs & the Chesapeake Bay by William W. Warner 1976 - Little, Brown & Co., Boston - Non Fiction Chesapeake by James A. Michener 1978 - Random House; New York - Fiction Chesapeake Bay Blues - Science, Politics and the Struggle to Save The Bay by Howard R. Earnst 2003 - Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.; New York - Non Fiction Eastern Shore Indians of Virginia and Maryland By Helen C. Rountree and Thomas E. Davidson 1997 - University Press of Virginia, Charlottesville and London - Non Fiction Life in The Chesapeake Bay - Second Edition by Alice Jane Lippson & Robert L. Lipson 1984, 1997 - The John Hopkins University Press; Baltimore - London - Non Fiction Books Just For Children
Chadwick The CrabChadwick and the Garplegrungen Chadwick's Wedding Chadwick Forever By Priscilla Cummings, Illustrated by A.R. Cohen 1986 - 1993 - Tidewater Press; Centreville, Maryland - Fiction Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs: Maryland State Crustacean by Marci Lynn Andrews; illustrated by Marcy Dunn Ramsey 2004 - Shore Publications; Chestertown, MD. - Non Fiction Buster B. Bluecrab written and illustrated by Glenn Linton 2004 - Maggie Glenn Press,Inc., Snow Hill, MD. - Fiction The Crab On The Seashore by Jennifer Coldrey ; photographs by Oxford Scientific Films 1986 - G. Steven Pub., Milwaukee - Non Fiction The Curious World of the Crab by Joseph J. Cook 1970 - Dodd, Mead - New York - Non Fiction Dancing On The Sand: A Story Of An Atlantic Blue Crab by Kathleen M. Hollenbeck ; illustrated by Joanie Popeo c1999 - Soundprints, Norwalk, Conn. - Fiction |
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