Over-regulation
Arbitrary rules and government indifference to the hardship they create, with little recognition of the toll on local economies across Maryland's Eastern and Western Shores.
50+ years serving Maryland's seafood industry
Standing up for the people who bring in the catch.
For more than 50 years, the Chesapeake Bay Seafood Industries Association has represented Maryland's seafood industry: the processors, watermen, wholesalers, and restaurants who depend on a healthy Bay to earn a living.
50+
Years representing the industry
80+
Active member businesses
2
Coasts served, East and Gulf
Who we are
A voice for Maryland's seafood industry.
The Chesapeake Bay Seafood Industries Association is a nonprofit formed more than 50 years ago to represent the seafood processing industry in Maryland. Since then it has grown to include businesses all along the East and Gulf Coasts.
Small business owners, seafood processors, retailers, wholesalers, restaurants, and watermen all depend on a healthy resource to make a living. CBSIA works to protect that resource, and the livelihoods that rely on it.
Today more than 80 active members range from crab meat processors to shipping-material suppliers and restaurants. We connect each of them to an information network that includes the local and federal legislators whose decisions shape the future of seafood in Maryland and beyond.
Our mission
Our commitments to the industry.
We work on the issues that decide whether the seafood industry survives and thrives: in the water, in the plants, and in the halls of government.
Protect the resource
Reduce pollution in the Chesapeake Bay and safeguard the resource the industry depends on.
A seat at the table
Raise the visibility of CBSIA and its members so the industry has a voice in shaping future management plans.
Represent members
Speak for the industry before state and federal agencies, the Maryland General Assembly, and the U.S. Congress.
Quality assurance
Sponsor a voluntary crab meat quality-control program conducted with the University of Maryland.
A reliable workforce
Protect continued access to seasonal labor for crab meat and oyster processing through the H-2B Guest Worker Program.
Keep everyone informed
Provide timely information to both the industry and consumers on the issues that affect seafood.
Solve real problems
Help individual companies work through specific challenges, case by case.
Fund the future
Secure research funding that makes Maryland seafood more competitive in global wholesale and retail markets.
Leadership
Led by people who know the water.
Bill Sieling
Executive Vice President
Bill owned a private oyster business in Chincoteague Bay from 1965 to 1966. He served at the Maryland Department of Natural Resources from 1968 to 1988 as a Marine Extension Agent and Natural Resource Manager, then as a Seafood Marketing Specialist at the Maryland Department of Agriculture from 1988 to 2000. Since 2001 he has worked as a seasonal seafood technician with the University of Maryland Extension Service.
Today Bill holds a part-time, pro bono position as Executive Vice President of CBSIA, a nonprofit trade association made up of seafood processors, watermen, buyers, dealers, and restaurant owners.
Officers
- Jack BrooksPresident
- Robin HallVice President
- Bill SielingExecutive Vice President
Board of Directors
- Dan Lyons
- Clay Brooks
- Jerry Harris
- Jay Newcomb
- Casey Todd
- Roy Todd
- Aubrey Vincent
- Joe Spurry
Today's challenges
The industry is up against a lot.
CBSIA works for small business. These are the pressures our members face every season.
Unfair imports
Ever-increasing competition from imported seafood products that are only randomly inspected.
Shrinking supply
Growing difficulty obtaining raw product for processing and distribution.
Public misunderstanding
Limited public awareness of the real problems facing local processors and watermen.
Labor shortages
H-2B guest worker shortages driven by inconsistent, unpredictable legislation.
Important links for further information
Our Work
Results that protect the industry.
A record of advocacy, research, and on-the-ground problem solving for Maryland seafood.
Fought unfair imports at the ITC
Spearheaded a successful campaign to petition the International Trade Commission for relief from unfair competition by imported crab meat.
Reopened oyster research
Pushed a review of the Department of Natural Resources policy that prohibited study of the Pacific oyster (Crassostrea ariakensis) in Maryland waters.
Measured the cost of regulation
Conducted an economic-impact study of DNR's proposed regulation prohibiting possession of sponge crabs after July 1.
Pursued competitiveness
Initiated research into new ways to make Maryland seafood businesses more competitive.
Led on guest worker reform
Spearheaded an ongoing campaign for a workable solution to H-2B guest worker legislation and the chronic labor shortage it creates.
Kept Congress engaged
Continue to work with legislators in Congress to formulate regulations that serve both guest workers and the industry.
Held the data to account
Sponsored an analysis of 20 years of reported Maryland crab harvests against DNR's own crab population data, exposing the inconsistency between DNR's harvest regulations and its stated conservation goals.
Membership
Join the people working for the industry.
If you have a stake in the success of the seafood industry, anywhere in the country, we'd welcome you as a member. Membership connects you to an information network, a unified voice before regulators and lawmakers, and a community that has had each other's backs for half a century.
And every year, members and friends gather for the CBSIA Crab Feast at the J.M. Clayton plant in Cambridge. It's a 50-year tradition, and some of the best crabs in Maryland.
Request membership infoContact
Get in touch.
Questions about membership, the industry, or an upcoming event? Reach out. We're glad to help.
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Address
26 Farragut Road
Annapolis, Maryland 21403 -
Phone
410-507-3249
Bill Sieling, Executive Vice President