CAMBRIDGE, Md. — For 135 years, the Brooks family has pulled blue gold from the waters of the Chesapeake. Their crab-processing plant in Cambridge, Maryland — believed to be the oldest of its kind in the world — has stood as a symbol of resilience, tradition and local pride. But now, that legacy hangs by a thread.
“There may be one or two survivors,” said Jack Brooks, handing off the family business to his son. “But I don’t think this will be one of them.”
Brooks and other Maryland watermen say their way of life is being pinched from both sides: a flood of cheap crab meat from Venezuela, and an increasingly unreliable stream of foreign guest workers, without whom the industry simply can’t function.
The numbers tell the story. Maryland jumbo lump crab meat recently sold for $40 a pound, while Venezuelan crab came in at just $28. “We can’t compete with that,” said waterman Jeremy Shockley. “People want it cheap.”
They’re now lobbying the Trump administration — in its second term — to impose tariffs as high as 150% on Venezuelan imports, a dramatic step they say is necessary for survival. While Venezuela has faced U.S. sanctions, crab tariffs remain relatively low at 15%.
But cheaper imports are only half the problem.
On any given day in Brooks’ plant, migrant women from San Luis Potosi, Mexico, can be seen expertly extracting delicate meat from crabs in seconds — work that hasn’t attracted local labor in decades. Yet visa restrictions have made staffing unpredictable at best.
“These are not immigration programs. These are work programs,” Brooks emphasized. “They come, they work, they go home. Without them, we don’t work. You don’t get Maryland crab.”
Brooks received just 27 guest worker visas this year — far short of what he needs. And with visa caps looming and no guarantee of reform, he fears the operation may not survive another season.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced the Save Our Seafood Act to shield seafood processors from visa caps. Advocates say it’s a lifeline the industry desperately needs.
But across the Bay, concern runs even deeper.
“Crabs used to be a staple. Now they’re a luxury,” said Bill Scerbo, a waterman in Shady Side. “If you’ve got friends over, do you spend $250 on crabs or $40 on burgers?”
Scerbo, like many others, is also watching how potential rollbacks to the Clean Water Act could hurt the Bay itself. “We’re downstream from everyone,” he said. “If pollution returns, the Bay will suffer. We all will.”
For now, the crabbers of Maryland wait — for visas, for tariffs, for a government to hear them.
Because in places like Cambridge, this isn’t just about seafood. It’s about survival.
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The gravy train is over !! Maryland crab price gouging has been rampant for 18 years…..