Maryland waterman gains 1M TikTok followers by showing behind-the-scenes crabbing

By Tommie Clark

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    PASADENA, Maryland (WBAL) — A young Marylander has gained an impressive following on Tik Tok, crabbing his way to more than 1 million followers.

“My whole life is crabbing and fixing stuff or whatever, and so I was like I’ll just start putting this stuff online, and it took off. People really seemed to like it,” waterman Luke McFadden said.

The 26-year-old Pasadena native has wanted to be a crabber for as long as he can remember. A year ago, McFadden decided to start documenting his adventures on the Chesapeake Bay on TikTok with a goal to show people how their food gets from water to table.

“(I) sort of built a business around letting people know where that comes from and the honest truth about what it really takes to catch crabs and get them to the restaurant,” McFadden said.

With each new video, he’s giving his viewers an authentic look behind-the-scenes.

McFadden described in a recent TikTok video: “This is a pregnant female. These are all eggs. We call these sponge crabs. We don’t keep these here in the Upper Bay.”

His big catch came when his TikTok account recently hit 1 million followers.

“People kept saying it, and they were like, ‘You hit a million!’ And, I was like, ‘Oh man, I hit a million! That’s awesome!'” McFadden said.

Now, he owns the Bodkin Point Seafood stand, where he sells the crabs he catches directly to customers Fridays through Sundays at 7333 East Furnace Branch Road in Glen Burnie.

As for what’s next, McFadden said he hopes to open a brick-and-mortar shop — and he doesn’t plan to stop making TikToks any time soon.

“The only thing standing between me and everything I’ve ever wanted is just hard work, and work is something I can do,” McFadden said.

You can find McFadden @FVsoutherngirl on TikTok and @luke_mcfad on Instagram.

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