Way Downstream…
An update comes from the Eastern Shore on the immigration woes of crab houses.
We reported recently on complaints from family-owned seafood houses about the lack of crab-pickers as a result of a shortage of H-2B visas.
They contend that they can’t find Americans to do the painstaking, seasonal work so they rely heavily on temporary workers from Mexico. (Some folks reject that reasoning, as you may notice in this week’s Your Say.)
After listening to businesses around the country, the Department of Homeland Security recently freed up an additional 15,000 visas on top of the 66,000 already allocated. The new H-2Bs were awared by lottery June 7.
But, the Baltimore Sun reports, most of the crab houses got no relief in competition with landscapers and others seeking the migrant workers. One exception was A.E. Phillips and Son, of Fishing Creek, which got 30 additional visas. J.M. Clayton Co., of Cambridge, got its visas earlier.
Lindy’s Seafood, of Woolford, was among crab houses that were lottery losers in its bid for 105 of the visas.
“We’re just going to have to make the best of a bad situation,” a Lindy’s spokesman told the Sun.