For many of the state’s 750 or so diggers, the work is a part-time gig, a way to make ends meet. Diggers are paid by the piece-40 cents a worm on average, with bigger ones, the “selects,” fetching 60 cents. Her manner is matter-of-fact, and she has a laser eye for inflated counts or undersized worms. She holds a clipboard with one hand and sorts bloodworms with the other, stopping occasionally to sign a digger’s check.

Margaret Harrington, CEO of Phil Harrington Bait, wearing jeans and open-toed sandals oversees the floor. Now they count worms into plastic trays, scrawling the total in pencil on scraps of paper. The worm harvesters, known locally as diggers, spent the morning on coastal mudflats at low tide flipping over mud with small metal rakes called worm hoes. The worms resemble puffy, blood-red earthworms laced with a fringe of feathery legs down each side. Inside Phil Harrington Bait, a squat warehouse in Woolwich, Maine, a dozen men and women, several with hip waders rolled down to their knees, stand at counters, combing through piles of squirming bloodworms. Listen now, download, or subscribe to “Hakai Magazine Audio Edition” through your favorite podcast app. This article is also available in audio format. Stream or download audio For this article | 2,000 words, about 10 minutes Share this article An easy solution exists, but the industry is resisting change. Photo by BW Folsom/Shutterstock Hitchhiking with Bloodworms Invasive species are sneaking around the world, nestled in the seaweed used to ship bait worms. Bloodworms are the bait of choice for fishers in North America and elsewhere.

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