Qriffith writes of the close ties between coastal communities and the sea — from precolonial 

 Algonquins to the thriving herring fisheries in the early 1900s. Now young adults are less 



— from precolonial Algonquins to the 

 thriving herring fisheries in the early 



1 900s. Now young adults are less likely to 

 have such a strong connection to full-time 

 fishing. And even middle-aged and older 

 fishers take land jobs to make ends meet 



— often losing the independence of 

 fishing and their intimate links to the water. 



"Full-time fishers see it happening all 

 the time. They notice that fishers who 

 leave fishing for a full-time job ashore, 

 phasing back to part-time fishing, slowly 

 lose the ability and perhaps the motivation 

 to continue monitoring and protecting the 

 resource," Griffith writes. 



Picking Out 

 Patterns 



Griffith's studies of the seafood 

 processing industry began with a Sea 

 Grant project in 1985. He watched as 

 scallop houses remained family-oriented 



operations, while crab processors began 

 hiring Mexican women on special visas. 

 "I am still studying seafood processing. 

 There has been fascinating change," he says. 



In fact, in his book, the chapter on 

 "Vanishing Women" is one of his 

 favorites. "Why vanishing? Because, 

 historically, North Carolina's crab pickers 

 slipped into the recesses of coastal 

 counties after leaving the plants. Daily 

 and at the end of the season, they returned 

 to neighborhoods along back roads and 

 inside small coastal communities that few 

 people who eat the fruits of their labor 

 will ever see," Griffith writes. 



But by the mid-1980s, fewer local 

 women, white or black, were seeking the 

 seasonal picking jobs that would send 

 them home with the smell of crabs and a 

 paycheck based not on hours, but on the 

 pounds of meat picked. Griffith is able to 

 compare the introduction of the workers 

 on H2 visas from Mexico to the use of 

 foreign workers in other industries includ- 

 ing apple picking and sugar cane harvesting. 



likely to have such a strong connection to the 

 full-time fishing. And even middle-aged and 

 older fishers take land jobs to make ends meet 

 — often losing the independence of fishing and 

 their intimate links to the water. 



Oyster planting, Broad Creek. NC. c. 1935. 

 Courtesy of the NC Division of Archives 

 and History 



The crab-plant owners' choice to use 

 the Mexican workers came not just from 

 cost accounting, but more importantly as 

 a means of labor control, Griffith 

 explains. With an H2 visa, the foreign 

 worker can work for only one employer 

 for one season. 



Griffith draws a comparison between 

 the earlier relationships between plant 

 owners and local crab pickers, and not 

 suiprisingly, he uses the sea to explain. "We 

 find a similar relationship between groupers 

 and wrasses around ocean reefs," he writes. 



Normally, the two species get along, 

 with the wrass getting meals by cleaning 

 the grouper's scales. But, as in nature, 

 such relationships sometimes shift. 



In the case of the crab plants, 

 alternative opportunities for the local 

 workers — such as jobs in the tourism 

 industry or classes at nearby community 

 colleges — reduced their desire to take 

 the seasonal work. With the H2 workers, 

 plant owners could set their plans for the 

 entire season. 



14 EARLY SUMMER 2000 



