Tia Clark

My crabbing business began as a personal dream to connect with my Gullah Geechee roots, has grown into broader conservation work, helping marine life and the shoreline thrive in my hometown of Charleston, South Carolina. My connection with hyper-local  conservation groups has expanded over the past 5 years running my business, Casual Crabbing with Tia, has provided me with a deeper connection to the water and water health year after year. We work with the SC Department of Natural Resources, which manages the South Carolina Oyster Recycling and Enhancement program (SCORE), and sends volunteers to collect used oyster shells from our community. We then use these shells along with recycled crab traps to build manufactured wire reefs that are deployed on our shorelines. Those reefs become habitats for blue crabs and other marine life.

As my journey continues and I learn and experience more, my own commitment to conservation deepens. My hope for the future is to bring as many people as possible to the water to show them that we all have a right to enjoy this resource but more importantly, whatever a person experiences on the water builds an organic stewardship that inspires them to want to protect the resource for the rest of their lives. 

I grew up surrounded by the water but did not experience the beach until I was 17 years old, and I didn’t experience crabbing until my late 30’s. There are so many kids living in Charleston, surrounded by water, that are growing up without a connection to the water. Through my partnership with the SCORE program, the SC Department of Natural Resources, and thanks to a grant from NOAA, I have begun working with kids at Title 1 schools, to help build connections for them to the water and marine life.

The most meaningful aspect of my work is when I have the opportunity to present a unique story of unusual possibility to kids and people who look like I do, a woman of color with Gullah Geechee heritage. Traditionally this culture, my culture, is a water culture, and crabbing and oystering were very important activities not just for recreation but for food, though culturally that had been lost over the decades. 

My dream is to expand along the east coast of the United States and beyond to connect communities to their waterways while inspiring stewards for our environment. I want to deploy oyster reefs wherever they are needed to save the coastal shoreline. I want to inspire locals in each community to spearhead this effective initiative that will help save shorelines around the perimeter of the US. Through my work as a crabber and now teacher, communicator, and active conservationist, I’ve learned that people truly want to be involved in something to help their communities.

I hope that the work I do today leaves a legacy for generations to come, particularly among those who never thought they could connect to water, the way I was just eight years ago. My ultimate dream is that my work will continue long after I am gone.