May 30, 2008 5:44 pm US/Eastern
Watermen Feeling Pain At The Pump
MARYLAND (WJZ) ―
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Watermen are feeling the pain at the gas pump. Crabs could cost $200 by the time they make it into a seafood market.
WJZ
The weather is beautiful on the Chesapeake Bay. But things are downright ugly at fuel docks.
Alex DeMetrick reports gas prices are soaring and that's having an impact on those who depend upon boats and the bay to make a living.
Naming a work boat the "Last Penny" may have been a stab at humor once, but it's striking a little too close to reality at fuel docks around the bay. Diesel is at $4.50 a gallon and climbing.
"The gas is doubling and the price of seafood is going down," said waterman Bucky Murphy.
Working the water takes constant moving. But with crabs spotty and fuel high, watermen are trying to conserve.
"They're hurting us bad. It's almost double in the past year, so it's taking a right good bite out of us," said waterman Wendell Lednun.
Joe Spurry buys crabs on Tilghman Island, but his truck might carry them as far away as New York.
Right now, crabs are selling for around $90 a bushel dockside. By the time they get to a seafood market in Baltimore, they could cost around $200 a bushel.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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