Chesapeake Bay Crab Pots: Marc Bershaw
The Chesapeake Bay is famous for its blue crabs, which are harvested by using a trap known as a “crab pot.” Invented by Benjamin F. Lewis in the 1920s, patented in 1928, and perfected ten years later, the crab pot forever changed the way hard crabs are harvested on the Chesapeake Bay.
- Crab Pot Building
- Reedville, Virginia
The Chesapeake Bay is famous for its blue crabs, which are harvested by using a trap known as a “crab pot.” Invented by Benjamin F. Lewis in the 1920s, patented in 1928, and perfected ten years later, the crab pot forever changed the way hard crabs are harvested on the Chesapeake Bay. The crab pot is a large square trap constructed out of galvanized chicken wire or PVC-coated wire with two internal chambers. The bottom chamber, or “downstairs,” consists of two or four entrance funnels, known as “throats,” which allow the crab to easily enter but not to exit. In the center of the bottom chamber is the “bait box.” The top chamber is the holding area, known as the “parlor” or “upstairs,” which traps the crabs. Chesapeake Bay Crab Pots of Reedville, Virginia, manufactures and sells crab pots to the commercial watermen and retailers along the coast of Virginia and Maryland between Norfolk and Baltimore. The company is owned and operated by Marc Bershaw, who is the brother of Heidi Wilkins, the owner of Jett’s Hardware, a Reedville institution. Marc is what longtime locals would call a “come here,” having moved to the Northern Neck recently after spending most of his life visiting family there. Yet despite his recent arrival to the area, Marc has become a much accepted and integral member of the local crabbing community.
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