Picking Crab Meat for Families: The Sufferings and Struggles of Female Workers in the Maryland Blue Crab Industry

Female workers, including African Americans in Maryland local communities and Mexican guest workers, have been playing an important role in the development of the blue crab industry since the late nineteenth century. Black female crab pickers braved threats of violence from racists and management to stand up against the factory's decision to cut wages. Mexican women travel thousands of miles, endure the pain of separation from their families, worry about their visas all the time, and come to Maryland to do the heaviest work. They all make important contributions to their families and the seafood industry, yet they suffer discrimination and injustice. Gender inequality is a persistent problem in the industry, and Mexican guest workers are more vulnerable in negotiations with employers because of their status. Their story is silent in the traditional narrative of blue crab becoming Maryland's representative seafood and has only gradually become visible in recent years as scholars have dug into it. This paper explores the sufferings and struggles of female workers in the Maryland blue crab industry from the perspective of the relationship between blue crabs and female workers. It asks a fundamental question--How did the unfair treatment of female workers in blue crab industry change from the New Deal to the age of Neoliberalism, and what factors influenced their struggle?

The poster draws a timeline of the development of blue crab industry in Maryland, including the Crisfield’s 1938 Crab Picker Strike, the visa crisis of Mexican female workers in the twenty-first century, and the crisis and conservation efforts for the population of blue crabs. In addition, it collects some pictures of blue crab industry to illustrate the connection between female pickers and blue crabs. In the repetitive work of picking crab meat day after day, the fate of the women and the blue crabs they pick have become bound together. It also shows some economic data, such as the earnings of the seafood industry, the wages and working hours of female workers, to show that the earnings of female workers are not proportional to the economic value they create. The poster aims to make female workers more visible in the process of blue crabs becoming Maryland’s pillar of industry and cultural identity.

Blue crabs, one of the most significant species for Maryland culture and economy, create a bio-social network that connects social groups such as politicians, entrepreneurs, watermen, migrant workers, scientists, environmentalists, and animal welfare organizations. The rise and fall of the populations of blue crabs are directly related to the economic growth of Maryland, the cultural identity of residents, the health of ecosystems along the Chesapeake Bay, and the future of Mexican guest workers. The suffering of female workers in the blue crab industry is not only a social justice issue about class, gender, and race but also an environmental justice issue for the relationship between humans and the blue crabs.