THE OYSTER INDUSTRY OF MARYLAND. 
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probabilities are greater for the discovery of new reefs there than in other parts of 
Maryland. Every few years new reefs of small extent are discovered and added to 
the productive area. 
Sinepuxent oyster-grounds . — These grounds, are situated on the ocean side of the 
State and within the limits of Worcester County. At present their area does not 
exceed 3 square miles, the annual product of which during recent years has averaged 
about 75,000 bushels. These oysters are rather small and are used mostly for planting 
purposes, nearly all of them being again bedded on the private areas in that county. 
At one time this bay was one of the important oyster-producing regions of Maryland, 
but at present the percentage of natural reefs to the total water area is less than in 
any other oyster-producing county in the State, being only about 3 per cent. The 
conditions of the oyster fishery in this county are totally different from those in the 
other counties in Maryland, no part of the regulations of the oyster industry of the 
Chesapeake Bay and tributaries applying to the waters of the Sinepuxent Bay. 
The history of the fishery here is unique and interesting. Dredges have never 
been used to any noticeable extent, if at all. From 1820 to 1844 the oysters were 
so abundant that many persons engaged in catching them to be burned into lime, 
which sold at from 4 to 8 cents per bushel. At present the only outlet into the ocean 
possessed by this bay is through Chincoteague Inlet, at the extreme lower end of Chin- 
coteague Bay. But during the period mentioned another and more convenient outlet 
existed. This was closed by natural causes about 1844, and the water in the bay 
gradually became so fresh and the bottom so covered with vegetable growth that the 
oysters were almost entirely destroyed except in the most favorable localities. Many 
efforts were made to retard the decrease by restricting the fishery. In 1846 a close 
time was established in the county from April 13 to September 1. In 1852 the removal 
of empty shells from the reefs for any purpose whatever was prohibited, and in 1861 
it was required that only 10 bushels of oysters should be taken in any one week by 
each man, but this provision was operative only one year. 
The great scarcity continued until 1868, when a severe storm occurred in this 
region, producing an inlet in a narrow portion of the sand beach. The ocean water 
also flowed over the beach in other places and raised the water in the bay several feet, 
thus thoroughly scouring the bay by reason of its being very shallow. During the 
year following the one in which the storm occurred an excellent set of oysters was 
obtained. At the end of two years these were marketable and hundreds of persons 
were employed in tonging them, some making at times as much as $100 and over per 
week. Difficulty was experienced in obtaining farm hands all along the shores of the 
bay because of the great number employed in catching oysters. The carpenters left 
houses unfinished, the farmers their fields, and the country merchants their counters, 
to engage in obtaining a share of the bountiful harvest. It is probable that during 
some of the years following 1870 the product of the common fishery in this bay 
amounted to 800,000 or more bushels, ranging in value from 50 cents to $1 per bushel. 
At one time in 1872 over 40 vessels loading for northern markets were counted within 
sight of one point in the bay. 
But the inlet made by the storm closed up and the oysters gradually decreased 
in abundance. From 1881 to 1884 the oysters were again somewhat plentiful, but not 
by any means so abundant as in 1872. Since 1884 the quantity obtained annually 
from the public reefs has been small, the extensive trade now prosecuted in that bay 
being dependent on the planting business, which has been conducted there 
F. C. B., 1892—15 
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