A few weeks ago, prior to the start of my blog, I posted and wrote about an article that was in the Daily Press concerning the local company, Graham and Rollins, a fourth generation family owned and operated company since 1942. Not only has Graham & Rollins maintained a reputation for being one of the largest crab processors on the East Coast, they also own and operate a retail store and restaurant in Hampton serving not only the freshest crabs in the area, but other catches along the bay.
Because of strong measures set by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an agency the President Trump has proposed to cut funding, the Chesapeake Bay has recovered from polluted waters that curtailed its abundance of sea food since the 1980’s. Also, regulations on when fishermen can fish for oysters and crabs allowed these sea creatures to reproduce and let their offspring mature, also increasing their amounts.
These smart and important measures yielded a larger crop of sea food, thus lowering prices and also creating new jobs for the cleaning and preparation of the fish for sale.
Interestingly enough, the creation of new jobs also locked horns with another goal of President Trump; keeping Mexican immigrants, whether legal citizens or on work visas, from taking on American jobs. As it appears, Graham and Rollins had difficulty with American workers as these employees would quit after a few days of work of this labor intensive industry.
Nonetheless, protecting the environment from pollution and using the tenets of sustainability not only will preserve the planet and make us healthier, but these measures have proven successful for our local economies as well!
Thankfully per the article that appeared last week in the Daily Press, the clean-up of the Chesapeake Bay has been fully funded! (Please click link below).