College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
Engaging Students
Search for Chronic Disease Risk Factors in
Horses Leads to Clues about Prevention
Bringing New Life to an Eroding Stream
Value-added Soybeans to Save Money and Environment
Expanding the Learning Experience
Crossing Traditional Boundaries of Science
To Find Health Solutions
Hobby-size Planes May Be Future of
Early Warning System
Improving Local Economies Through Agritourism
Incentive Payments May Reduce Phosphorus Pollution
Protecting Milk’s Flavor and Nutritional Value
Finding a Healthful and Environmentally Friendly Use For Peanut Skins
Supporting Virginia’s Expanding Wine Industry
Virginia Tech Reaches Top 10 in Agricultural Research
Entrepreneurship Education Puts Business Owners in the Express Lane
E-learning Option for Place-bound Professionals
Financial Planning – From the Farm to the Household
New Graduate Program to Train Faculty in Agricultural Education Fields
Farmers’ Markets from Diverse Communities Benefit from Sharing
Families, Food, and Fun
Developing Disease-free Mosquitoes
Mites Make Right in Honduras – or Not?
Help for the Hippos of Zambia
Improving Local Economies Through Agritourism
|
For over three centuries, Tangier Island has been a treasure of the Chesapeake Bay, supporting a small community based primarily on crab and oyster harvesting. Many residents proudly trace their lineage to the families that initially settled Tangier in the seventeenth century. The islanders of today, however, see a difficult future for Tangier Island’s seafaring economy. Many younger residents have left the island seeking jobs.
On the island, reduced crab and oyster harvests, coastal erosion, conservation management, and increasing competition from imports have resulted in a gradual economic decline. Until recently, tourism has primarily been limited to visitors who came to the island for a few hours, giving them little understanding of life there. For those who have grown up in this idyllic place, there is a crucial need for new opportunities to maintain their distinct culture.
Dan Kauffman, a Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) seafood specialist at the Virginia Seafood Agriculture Research and Extension Center; Nancy McGehee, an associate professor of hospitality and tourism at Virginia Tech; and Crystal Tyler- Mackey, a VCE community viability specialist, worked with Island residents to launch a new option for the economy – an agritourism experience. This experience includes a waterman’s boat tour to see how hard and peeler crabs are caught and a visit to a crab shanty to watch peelers become softshell crabs. Visitors can also see the island’s many bird species and other wildlife while kayaking on water trails. Dining and lodging options are available at long-established local inns and eateries, all of which retain the island’s distinctive charm.
These new tourism initiatives will not turn the working watermen of Tangier Island into full-time tourist guides; however, the new tourism will supplement their income. Not every crabber on Tangier favors the new tourism, but those who have signed on have experienced some success.
Among these is the mayor of Tangier, James Eskridge. He began encouraging visitors to tour his crab shanty in late summer. In the first month, about 90 people (including the actor Dustin Hoffman) took the tour of his facility, which sits on piers off of Tangier’s shoreline, entirely surrounded by water. The additional income from this “experiential” tourism will help ameliorate fluctuations in market prices and harvest totals for crabs and oysters.
Virginia Tech and VCE’s work to promote this project should benefit the island for decades to come, promoting a wider appreciation of and a new revenue base for the evolving Tangier Island community.