On a windy April day in Topping, VA, local watermen from the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula gave the general public a chance to walk in their boots. Participants attending the spring 2015 kickoff of the Virginia Watermen’s Heritage Tour Program experienced what it really takes to get Virginia’s seafood from the Chesapeake Bay to the table by taking part in on-the-water demonstrations like pulling crab pots and dredging oysters.
“These tours are so important to help consumers who don’t live near the water learn about where their food comes from and the Chesapeake Bay,” says Susan Cockrell from the Northern Neck Tourism Commission. “A dirty Bay is not a healthy environment, even for the people living inland.”
More than anything, “this is about heritage,” says Cockrell, whose family grew up on the water. Her cousin, Captain David Rowe, is one of the watermen in the Program, and her grandfather, though not a waterman “per se,” spent his days out on the river.
With developmental assistance from Virginia Sea Grant, the Virginia Watermen’s Heritage Tour Program seeks to increase regional tourism by offering on-the-water tours with authentic working watermen throughout tidewater Virginia. Partners expect the Program will supplement both watermen’s incomes and Virginia’s economy, establish working watermen as first-line stewards of the Chesapeake Bay’s living resources, and encourage the purchase of Virginia seafood.
