by LAGAN SEBERT
with visuals by Audrey Busta-Peck, Lagan Sebert and Sandra Sampayo

Chesapeake Bay watermen have made their living off oysters and crabs for three centuries. They leave their houses before dawn to pull up crab pots and search the oyster beds. The bay was once filled with these seafood delicacies. In recent years, however, the population of blue crabs and oysters have decreased, and watermen are finding it harder than ever to support themselves.

Smith Island is nine miles off the Maryland coastline in the Chesapeake Bay. It takes 30 minutes to get there by boat, yet it feels like another country, if not another time. The Smith Island economy is based on the harvesting of the crabs and oysters in the surrounding bay. But there are fewer hardshell crabs and oysters around Smith Island than ever before, and some say the watermen on Smith Island and their traditional way of life are in jeopardy. See the Observer’s special report in this 8-minute video.