US work visas needed for Maryland seafood industry

August 07 2009 by Mark Johnstone

US work permits for seafood processing firms

Crabmeat on the US ivisa menu

Seafood processing firms in Maryland are desperately seeking work permits for foreign workers who want to come and work in the US on a seasonal basis.

The Department of Homeland Security recently announced that 25,000 seasonal US immigration permits were still unclaimed. On this news, the seafood processors are rushing to apply for the work visas in order to attract workers to pick crabmeat from their hefty catches.

The crab processing firms rely heavily on foreign seasonal workers living and working in the US temporarily. Eastern Shore, one of the local crab businesses, had to remain closed last spring as they could not find enough staff to do the work needed.

Chesapeake Bay Seafood Industries Association president, Jack Brooks, says the discovery of the unclaimed work permits is “great news, just huge.” Brooks says the industry in the state was close to collapse before the news arrived about the spare US visas.

"If something didn't happen in the next couple of weeks, they were in huge trouble," says University of Maryland economist, Douglas W. Lipton.

The crabmeat companies hope that the visa applications will be processed quickly, to allow the immigrant workers to start working well before the peak crabmeat season in October.

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