Dawn Chesser, Sanford, Virginia
Dawn Chesser runs the Holden Creek Gun Club with her husband, Grayson Chesser, who is a master decoy carver. Chesser is well known on the Eastern Shore for her down-home cooking.

Janice Marshall, Smith Island, Maryland
Janice Marshall is a sixth-generation Smith Islander. She is a crab picker by occupation and an entrepreneur by necessity, having founded a crab-picking cooperative to comply with state health regulations. She is also an award-winning cook.

Kenneth Pinkard, Burgess, Virginia
Kenneth Pinkard was a cook on a large menhaden fishing vessel. He was instrumental in unionizing the menhaden fishery in the Northern Neck area and is still active in the union.

John Shields, Baltimore, Maryland
Called the "culinary ambassador of the Chesapeake Bay," John Shields is a nationally acclaimed expert in regional American coastal cuisine who has authored three award-winning cookbooks on the cuisine of the Chesapeake, and had a public television series, "Chesapeake Bay Cooking." For the series, Shields interviewed people around the Chesapeake region and showed how they prepared their favorite regional dishes. He has written for numerous national publications, is a frequent guest chef on radio and television, and teaches classes in American coastal cooking.

Debbie Styron, Cedar Island, North Carolina
Debbie Styron is a native of Cedar Island and wife of commercial fisherman Bradley Styron. She grew up in the fishing business, opening clams, culling fish, and heading shrimp. Today, with daughter Beverly and sons Samuel and Brad Styron, she helps manage the family seafood business, Quality Seafood. She also works at the Cedar Island ferry terminal.

Ramona Whittington, Crisfield, Maryland
As a part of a third generation of women revered for their cooking, Ramona Whittington preserves traditional family recipes and prepares local seafood in ways that are the mainstay of her maritime community.