Maryland's Iconic Crab Industry and Their Struggles to Survive During COVID-19

Crab Picking

There have been several news stories recently focusing on Maryland's iconic crab industry and their struggles to survive amidst labor restrictions brought about by COVID-19. These stories have brought about a lot of interest by local politicians and labor organizations. Many of these news sources have reached out to Dr. Thurka Sangaramoorthy for her expertise on women migrants in the crab picking industry. Dr. Sangaramoorthy has conducted long-term ethnographic work on how political and legal notions of entitlement and access become understood and reconstituted within a moral economy that recognizes some immigrants on Maryland’s rural Eastern Shore as deserving of care and others as not.

The Kojo Nnamdi Show

On May 19th, Dr. Thurka Sangaramoorthy was interviewed by NPR’s Kojo Nnamdi Show. Dr. Sangaramoorthy was a guest on a segment discussing “What Visa Shortages And The Coronavirus Mean For Maryland’s Crab Industry". In the segment, Dr. Sangaramoothy discusses her work and research with Mexican women migrants who came to the Eastern Shore through the H-2B visa program to work as crab pickers.

Listen to the full segment, here: https://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2020-05-19/what-visa-shortages-and-the-coronavirus-mean-for-marylands-crab-industry

The Baltimore Sun

Dr. Thurka Sangaramoorthy was interviewed for an article titled, “‘We hold our breath every day’: Maryland crab industry counts on Mexican workers, but how will they stay safe” in The Baltimore Sun. The authors of the articles discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on Mexican crab pickers that arrive for work on the Eastern Shore.

Read the full article, here: https://www.baltimoresun.com/coronavirus/bs-md-crab-pickers-coronavirus-20200423-ynzjklossjblfhkgqllpnbs6sy-story.html

Maryland Matters

Dr. Thurka Sangaramoorthy was quoted in an article in Maryland Matters titled, "Md. Crabbing Industry Fears Long-Term Impacts of 2020 Visa Shortages." The article discusses the challenges facing Maryland's crabbing industry and its limited access to H2-B visas on which crab workers rely. 

Read the full article, here: https://www.marylandmatters.org/2020/05/03/md-crabbing-industry-fears-long-term-impacts-of-2020-visa-shortages/

Published on Wed, 05/20/2020 - 10:24