THE OYSTEE INDUSTRY OF MARYLAND. 
215 
THE OYSTER-GROUNDS. 
Tidal-water areas . — By numerous acts of the general assembly the tidal-water 
areas of Maryland have been divided into two classes, viz, those situated within the 
Small bays, sounds, rivers, and creeks, and known as the inshore or “county waters,” 
and those areas located in the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River outside of the 
smaller bays and rivers and designated in this report the “State waters.” Of the 2,359 
square miles * of tidal- water area of Maryland, 1,025 are situated within the limits of 
the counties, 976 in the Chesapeake Bay, and the remaining 358 square miles in the 
Potomac River, thus giving the “county waters” an area of 1,025 and the “ State waters” 
1,334 square miles. 
The distinction between “county waters” and “State waters” is of much importance 
to those persons desirous of understanding the condition of affairs in Maryland, not 
only because different methods of oystering are prosecuted in each, but also because 
persons are not permitted to oyster in the waters of a county unless they are residents 
of that county, while citizens of any portion of the State may resort to the State 
grounds. The counties, however, have no title to the water area situated within their 
limits that would prevail against the State. 
Tonging, dredging, and scraping constitute the various methods of catching oysters 
practiced in Maryland. Excepting a few reserved areas of small extent on which no 
form of oyster fishery is permitted, tonging is authorized under certain restrictions 
and regulations as to persons, times, and methods in all Maryland waters. Dredging 
is permitted in the “State waters” only, and the use of a few shoal re’efs located 
therein is reserved from the dredgers for the use of the tongmen. Scraping, which is 
a modified form of dredging, is authorized only in portions of the waters of Somerset, 
Dorchester, and Talbot counties. 
Thus, of the 1,334 square miles of “ State waters,” 35, containing some of the best 
oyster reefs, are reserved for the tongmen, leaving 1,299 for the dredgers. And of the 
1,025 square miles of “county waters,” 748 are reserved for the tongmen and 277 may 
be used by both tongmen and scrapemen. While the men using tongs are permitted 
under certain regulations to work on all the reefs in the State, yet the other methods 
of catching oysters are so much more successful that in most localities the permit is 
scarcely a privilege, and generally tongs are used only on reefs where dredges and 
scrapes may not be employed. 
The location of the boundary lines separating the “State waters” from the “county 
waters” has occupied much of the time of the general assembly and of the courts of the 
State. The distinction between these waters originated in an act of 1830 (L. 1829-30, 
ch. 87), which prohibited citizens of one county from catching oysters within 300 
yards of low- water mark of either shore of any river or bay situated within the limits 
of another county. The original distinction has been repeatedly modified and amended 
since then, both by general and local enactments, but it would require too much space 
to give here a history of the location of these boundaries, and the accompanying chart 
fully indicates them as they exist at present. 
The following table exhibits in detail the tidal- water area of the State and the 
area on which each form of fishery may be prosecuted, the unit of measurement being 
the square statute mile. As tonging is authorized in all waters of the State, only such 
All miles referred to in this report are statute miles unless otherwise indicated. 
