If you ask an 18-year-old what issues matter to them in this election year, most will say the environment and the economy. But for Ben Byers, a Maryland crabber, those two things have more of a direct impact on his life than your average youth voter. He loves the water and his job. The only problem is that he’s not sure if the industry that supports his way of life will be around a mere ten years from now. Then there is Bob, a waterman who has made his living off of the Chesapeake Bay for 40 years.
But the bay is suffering. Bob blames pollution and too much development of the shoreline, some say it’s overfishing, while others point to run off from agricultural farms. But the bottom line is that the unfavorable environmental conditions are wiping out vast numbers of seafood populations that once supported entire communities of watermen. Bob and Ben, both young and old, are a part of a dying breed but they're proud of what they do and they hope to keep at it for as long as the bay can sustain them.