Tangier Island: Rising Waters, Eroding Shores, Dwindling Time

TANGIER ISLAND, CHESAPEAKE BAY — On a windy June morning, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s boat rocked violently on the waves of its namesake watershed, brackish drops splashing into the vessel as it sped towards Tangier Island, a 1.2 square mile land mass that was first settled in colonial times but whose future is now uncertain.

On the hour ride from the Crisfield, Maryland, marina, Tangier Island Mayor James “Ooker” Eskridge detailed how much the land of his home has been battered away by storms and rising sea levels. Tangier has reportedly lost two-thirds of its land mass since 1850.

It’s not clear exactly how many residents live there; the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau indicated 430 people, while other sources place it closer to 252. What’s undeniable, Eskridge said, is that more people leave each year.

The island needs greater financial investment from the federal government if it is to survive, he added.

“But I know there are billions of dollars being spent on creating islands like Poplar Island,” a similarly eroded island off the coast of Maryland, Eskridge said.
”They built that island back up for nothing. Nobody lives there. … Now here we are, we have a working waterman’s community, and we’re having a struggle just to protect it.”

Tangier Mayor James “Ooker” Eskridge shows a map of the island’s land loss. June 8, 2026. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)

For generations, the island has been home to people who made their living crabbing and fishing. The residents have a unique cadence, with “ a tendency to prolong a vowel,” Tangier Island native and linguist David L. Shores told The National Geographic. The island can only be reached by boat or plane.

“We’ve been here for hundreds of years, and we’d like to stay. Tangier is very savable now. I know it’s a lot of money to the community, but to the (federal) government it’s not,” Eskridge said.

Tangier Island comes into view on the horizon of the Chesapeake Bay. June 8, 2026. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)

Homes here stand just a few feet above sea level on some parts of the island. Port Isobel, which rests on the smaller island east of Tangier, serves as a research and education hub, with breakwaters allowing the beach to hold its shape and forested land.

Wave erosion on the coast of Tangier Island off the Virginia coast, June 8, 2026. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)

Tangier is not just a singular aspect of Virginia’s coastal culture and history. The marshes surrounding the island also serve as essential habitat for crabs, fish and oysters who need seagrasses to survive.

“We’re working to try to make sure that this really unique archipelago out in the middle of the Bay that anchors the bay-grasses, that anchors the oyster reefs, that is comprised of marshes that are incredibly important habitat to the Chesapeake Bay … is preserved,” Tom Ackerman, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s vice president for environmental education, said. “Because if we lose the land, everything else is gonna just get blown out.”

Crab pots lined up on pier on Tangier Island off the Virginia coast. June 8, 2026. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)

The island’s economy is sustained by blue crab and oyster fishing.

Tangier’s fishermen are estimated to harvest about 13% of the entire Chesapeake’s blue crabs. Oysters harvesting made a major comeback when authorities halted winter crab dredging, allowing the oyster populations to rebound. It’s a welcome change from prior decades, locals and conservationists say.

In the 1970s and 1980s, oysters in the Bay struggled to survive. Chris Moore with CBF explained that three main factors contributed to the former decrease: over-harvesting, pollution and disease.

Recent efforts to restore the species in the Bay have been incredibly successful and enable a profitable winter business for the Tangier watermen.

“Today, the only way for the waterman to make a living (in the winter) is oysters. And it’s vital that we maintain a healthy population, which we do have now. Oysters are doing exceptionally well now,” Eskridge said.

Oyster beds in the Chesapeake Bay off the coast of Tangier Island, June 8, 2026. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)

The oysters also serve as natural coastal protection.

Oyster reefs can help slow down incoming stormwater and serve as natural breakwaters. State and federal agencies are putting them to use through a massive oyster habitat restoration effort, the Tangier-Pocomoke Sound Oyster Recovery Project.

At full capacity, the project will reserve over 4,000 acres of the Bay for oyster habitat, some of which will be available for harvesting by local fishermen. Work on the first 275 acres of the project will begin in 2028.

“I think it’ll actually be a really good example of how we can continue to … think about how we do restoration differently and how it can support more uses as we continue to get better at it,” Moore said.

Several groups have banded together to create a shoreline protection plan to guide federal and state funding to projects that buffer the beaches and staunch erosion.

The consulting and design group Bay Land has been meeting with locals to identify key areas where berms should be built, dredged materials could build up marshes and natural infrastructure can be planted. The roadmap is anticipated to be completed later this year.

The town had previously been awarded $356,500 from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) through the National Coastal Resilience Fund, to begin the community engagement to identify priorities for the roadmap.

This year, the group didn’t receive additional funding of $1.2 million from NFWF to start moving some of the plans in the roadmap into the design phase, which they called “a disappointment.”

Without that money, Bay Land representatives said, projects will be delayed another year before design finalization, time that many on the island say they don’t have. Bay Land will apply again in February when the funding applications reopen.

As the boat curved around the island, a lighthouse appeared far in the distance. Terry Parks, a life-long resident of the island, said his grandfather told stories of being able to walk on land almost all the way to the lighthouse when he was young.

Parks piloted the boat along that same land, which is now only a few feet below the water’s surface.

Lighthouse off the coast of Tangier Island, VA. June 8, 2026. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)

The boat pulled up along the northwestern portion of the island, where a breach in the shoreline in a place called Tom’s Gut allows water to freely flow inland, aiding erosion.

The Army Corps of Engineers tried to fix the breach by using some of the materials dredged annually from the island’s central canal. It wasn’t enough to fill the gap and washed away.

“I think it’s critical to see if you can fix that breach. Just stop that velocity to help that erosion on the marshes on the backside,” said Jeff Swallow with the Army Corps of Engineers.

Tangier Island coastline. June 8, 2026. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)

The boat docked downtown and passengers disembarked to walk along the island’s narrow streets, most just wide enough for one golf cart – the main mode of transportation on Tangier Island.

Narrow street in the town of Tangier, VA. June, 8 2026. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)

The visitors, from various state and federal agencies, piled into Lorraine’s, a popular seafood restaurant. Before heading in, Tangier Councilmember Anna Pruitt-Parks admitted the island’s financial struggles have been paramount for residents in recent years.

The focus on generating money and keeping the island’s government and public services afloat may have partially obscured the reality of erosion, Pruitt-Parks said, but the environmental threats can no longer be downplayed.

“As a kid, you don’t notice (changes) as much, but the older I’ve got, I’ll say every week I see a change, especially like in the ditches in the middle of the island,” she noted. “All of that’s been widening and big chunks of marsh are just breaking off and it’s really hard to watch. Very hard to watch.”

Cemetery in Tangier, VA. June, 8 2026. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)

Inside the eatery, agency representatives shared the latest on state funding for the resiliency plan and new laws that could help Tangier.

Del. Robert Bloxom, R-Accomack, successfully passed House Bill 52 to the Virginia General Assembly this year. The measure requires materials that are dredged up from canals and other projects to be reused for resiliency projects, like building up marshes, starting in 2027.

There are some exceptions that would limit the use of some materials. Maryland already has a similar policy in place, which has helped the state pursue coastal projects such as the one on Poplar Island.

Eskridge advocated for urgent action, not endless legislative debate.

“I know many studies have been done…but we’re losing the land at such a rapid rate. We don’t really have the time to play around,” Eskridge said. “And I believe there’s probably been enough money spent on studies that you could actually have protected all this by now.”

angier Mayor James “Ooker” Eskridge, June 8, 2026. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)

After feasting on cuisine that originated from the waters surrounding them, the groups conclude their meeting by pinpointing other funding sources and potential partner organizations to help them preserve the island.

Even as the clock ticked, Eskridge said he was encouraged to see state, local, and federal agencies try to find solutions to protect Tangier.

While the visitors boarded the boat to leave, skiffs shook in the waves while seabirds picked at empty crab pots. Locals’ casual conversations carry over the harbor lined with “for sale” signs.

People have suggested that Eskridge follow the droves who have departed the island for good, looking for more opportunity in a place that isn’t being swallowed up by the sea. He always tells them the same thing: “There is no place like home.”

View of the Chesapeake Bay from downtown pier in Tangier Island, June, 8 2026. (Photo by Shannon Heckt/Virginia Mercury)

by Shannon Heckt, Virginia Mercury

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