![Click to view slideshow Click to view slideshow](/images/galleries/2004/mid-atlantic-cooking-competitions/images/01-2004-37851.jpg)
![Phil Cisrow shows the proper technique for opening an oyster quickly and safely during an oyster shucking contest held at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which pit shuckers from the Chesapeake Bay against those from the Delaware Bay.](/images/galleries/2004/mid-atlantic-cooking-competitions/images/01-2004-37851.jpg)
![Women compete at the 2003 National Oyster Shucking Championship in Leonardstown, Maryland.](/images/galleries/2004/mid-atlantic-cooking-competitions/images/02-Program book 4.jpg)
![Oyster tonging contests are also popular forms of competition.](/images/galleries/2004/mid-atlantic-cooking-competitions/images/slideshow_03.jpg)
![Spectators watch as contestants compete in the 2003 National Hard Crab Derby Crab Picking Competition in Crisfield, Maryland.](/images/galleries/2004/mid-atlantic-cooking-competitions/images/slideshow_04.jpg)
![Joyce Fitchett, eight times champion, picks steamed crabs at the Hard Crab Derby.](/images/galleries/2004/mid-atlantic-cooking-competitions/images/slideshow_05.jpg)
![Closer view of Joyce Fitchett’s technique at crab picking.](/images/galleries/2004/mid-atlantic-cooking-competitions/images/slideshow_06.jpg)
![Joyce Fitchett demonstrates crab picking at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.](/images/galleries/2004/mid-atlantic-cooking-competitions/images/slideshow_07.jpg)
![Smith Island native Janice Marshall won the 2004 rockfish cooking competition at the annual East Coast Commercial Fishing and Aquaculture Exposition in Ocean City, Maryland. Her prize winning recipe is available in the “recipe” section of this website.](/images/galleries/2004/mid-atlantic-cooking-competitions/images/08-rockjanicemarshall1st.jpg)
![A crab chowder “cook-off” was staged on July 3 (Chesapeake Bay Day) at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.](/images/galleries/2004/mid-atlantic-cooking-competitions/images/slideshow_09.jpg)
Competition in coastal communities has a long tradition. The first to get a boatload of fish to the docks got the best price. The fastest and most accurate oyster shucker or crab picker made more money. These skills helped feed families, but were also a source of pride in one's work.
Today, a number of organized competitions continue in the Mid-Atlantic maritime region, carrying substantial prizes and attracting tourists from far and wide. The annual National Oyster Shucking Championship in Leonardstown, Maryland, features the winners of many local competitions, and the winner receives a paid trip to the International Championship. Other competitions range from muskrat skinning, to fish chowder "cook-offs," to rockfish recipe creations.
In the rapidly-changing maritime communities of the Mid-Atlantic, where few oyster shucking and crab picking houses are still in operation and fewer and fewer families are working on the water, competitions are one means of keeping the skills of local experts alive and passing them on to the next generation. Joyce Fitchett, from Crisfield, Maryland, eight-time winner of the National Hard Crab Derby's crab picking contest, enjoys showing off her prowess even though she no longer makes her living as a crab picker. She is happy to teach young people "how to pick a crab."