Recognition for a life spent working the water

Hayden, sons keep chasing crab catch

Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by REID SILVERMAN Bert Hayden of Avenue received the "Ancient Order of the Waterman" award earlier this month at the Blessing of the Fleet. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

Bert Hayden gets up around 4 every morning. He and two of his sons are on the Potomac River in a 42-foot boat by 4:30 or 5 and usually get back home around that same time in the afternoon.

"We fish for crab and, until I had a couple of heart attacks, I used to have a gill net stand that we used in the winter, in December, January and February," Hayden said. "I gave my stand to my son." A gill net stand includes 200 yards of small mesh net, which catches the fish by their gills, trapping them for the watermen. The number of stands allowed on the Potomac River is regulated.

Earlier this month Hayden received the "Ancient Order of the Waterman" award during the 42nd annual Blessing of the Fleet at Colton's Point. The award recognizes a St. Mary's County waterman who has spent his life working the area's rivers and bays harvesting oysters, crab, fish and softshell clams. The Seventh District Optimist Club sponsors the award.

Born in Bushwood, Hayden, 69, moved to Avenue in 1960 when he married his wife, the former Jane Louise Young. The couple has seven children, four girls and three boys, and nine grandchildren.

Each of the Haydens has licenses for 775 crab pots, which include 475 pots in the Potomac River and 300 pots for inside the Chesapeake, Breton, Wicomico and St. Clement's bays. They check some of the pots at least every other day. When the season opened April 1, the men started working downriver, gradually working their way to the Marine base in Quantico, Va. The crabbing season ends Nov. 30.

Economics have driven down the number of people who make their living as watermen, Hayden said.

"It is too hard of work and younger guys can't afford to do it full time," he said. "There is not enough money in it. Nothing is cheap anymore — the nets, the fuel, everything. In 1999, I paid $1.35 a gallon for fuel, now it is $2.49 and inching higher. I use about 60 to 70 gallons every time I go up the river and I go up about two to three times a week. A crab pot costs about $36.50 for each one. If you are good and careful with them, you could get maybe two to three years out of them. Boats are expensive and you need a new motor every five six or years."

But, on the plus side, he said, crabbing has been good this year.

"Prices are going up because of the demand," he said. "In the 1960s, it was a local thing, more or less, for people who wanted crabs. Now everyone wants them. This year, I've seen an abundance of small crabs, 2-inch up to 5-inch, so I think it looks pretty good for next year. It's more small crabs than I have seen in a long time. But, it's like anything. Some years are better than others and the crabs produce more. It is not something you can go out and say, ‘we are going to get so many bushels.' It's like farming; you plant and you don't really know how much you are going to harvest. Pencil and paper and numbers do not really tell you how many bushels you are going to get."

Del. John F. Wood Jr. (D-St. Mary's, Charles), a member of the Seventh District Optimist Club, presented the award to Hayden. He said the club felt it was important to honor those who make their living by working on the water. "This is something we started around 1997," Wood said. "Unfortunately, the numbers have dwindled, but there are a few fellows who are still working as watermen. They are an important part of Southern Maryland history."

Bert Hayden grew up in a farming family. He still farms corn and soybeans, in addition to working on the water with two of his sons. His third son works the farm.

"I do the same thing on this farm that I did when I was a youngster," Hayden said. "We have 145 acres here and a small piece of land up the road with 30 acres. It is just enough for here, with the tax bill the way it is."

Even though he got an award for being an "ancient waterman," Hayden said he has no plans to retire anytime soon. "I still enjoy it. Sometimes it is not all that much fun, but I do it because I like it," he said with a laugh. "It's the same for the farm. Otherwise, I wouldn't be doing it."

jmalene@somdnews.com

Previous winners

Walter Saunders 1997

Clemmie Chesledine 1998

Evans Faunce 1999

Ben Bowles 2000

Tootsie Morris 2001

Roy Thompson 2002

Jimmy Lathroum 2003

Bobby Faunce 2004

Junior Thompson 2005

Tucker Brown 2006

Harry Huseman 2007

Robert T. Brown 2008