Meet Captain Buck Lynch: 1 of 12 black watermen left in the entire United States

MARYLAND. – Captain James Buck Lynch is one of 12 watermen left working the water. “My dad was considered one of the best watermen back in the early 60s when my father was on the water, so I wanted to follow in his footsteps.” He has wanted to become a waterman his whole life, and started learning how to oyster and crab at a young age.

Eventually, he started working with his father in 1969, but back then he said the job was abundant. “When slavery was over, black watermen went on to the water to make their living. And there were plenty of oysters, and plenty of crabs.”

That’s before the Haplosporidium nelsoni or msx disease broke out in the Chesapeake Bay. According to Captain Lynch, the disease decimated the oyster population. Lynch has been a waterman for over 50 years. He recounted to WMDT back in1991, his boat inspector had never seen a black captain sailing from Maine to Florida.

“This is my biggest boat, and I hadn’t rigged it for fishing. It took me 2 years to get it passed Coast Guard inspection. Once I got it up to inspection and had it registered for 24 people, I stopped crabbing, I started running charters,” said Captain Lynch.

Captain Lynch has been running those charters since 2002. He claims the fishing business is dying a slow death. “I would say the youngest waterman that’s left and black is in his 60s. After that generation, there is no 40-year-old waterman that’s black.”

Managing the bay, he understands, is a difficult task. He feels, however, that state regulations make it difficult to attract younger generations into the field. He thinks the watermen community’s identity is fading.

“And I realize the state is trying to make sure the bay is sustained. But they also got to work with the watermen who made this their livelihoods. You would take us like a fish out of water if we’re forced to go on land.”