226 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
or less extensively since 1842. It seems probable that the opening of a new outlet 
for Sinepuxent Bay, which is now in contemplation, will have a beneficial effect on the 
productiveness of the natural oyster reefs. 
The data relative to the area and average annual product of these various locali- 
ties during the last five seasons are here summarized: 
Localities. 
Area. 
Average anu 
lual product. 
Average prod act 
per square jmile. 
Square 
miles. 
Bushels. 
Value. 
Bushels. 
Value. 
Pocomoke Sound 
7 
250, 000 
$150, 000 
31, 250 
$18, 750 
Tangier region 
84 
3, 400, 000 
1. 625, 000 
40, 476 
19, 345 
Choptank region 
40 
1, 750, 000 
740, 000 
43, 750 
18, 500 
Eastern Bay 
26 
500, 000 . 
250, 000 
19, 230 
9, 615 
Cheater River 
17 
450, 000 
235, 000 
26, 470 
13, 823 
Patuxent River 
12 
500, 000 
235, 000 
41, 666 
19, 583 
Potomac River 
49 
*1, 600, 000 
700, 000 
32, 653 
14, 285 
Bay shores 
116 
3, 025, 000 
1, 522, 500 
26, 077 
13, 120 
Sinepuxent Bay 
3 
175, 000 
43, 500 
25, 000 
14, 500 
Total 
Average 
355 
*11, 550, 000 
5, 501, 000 
32, 535 
15, 495 
*500,000 bushels obtained by Virginia oystermen. 
t In addition to this, 96,000 bushels, valued at $87,500, were marketed from the private areas in this hay. 
Of this oyster product, 4,850,000 bushels were obtained from tonging areas, 
2,950,000 from dredging areas, and 3,250,000 bushels from scraping areas, not includ- 
ing the catch by Virginia oystermen. About 500,000 bushels ot the above-mentioned 
catch on scraping- grounds were obtained by dr edging- vessels working temporarily 
under a scraping license. 
TONGING. 
Historical notes . — During the early history of the industry in Maryland citizens 
of any county were permitted at their pleasure and without restriction to tong oysters 
in any waters situated within the State. While this branch of the fishery has con- 
tinued uninterruptedly from the origin of the industry until the present date, the 
places, times, and methods of its prosecution have been frequently modified. 
When the oystermen of 1820 were so much alarmed at a temporary decrease in 
the productiveness of the reefs that they interdicted in any part of the State the use 
of dredges, an increase naturally followed in the number of tongs employed. The 
apparent decrease in the productiveness of the reefs continuing, the general assembly 
enacted in 1830 (L. 1829-30, ch. 87) that the use of these implements having more than 
six teeth on a side should be prohibited, except in the deep waters of the Chesapeake 
Bay. But at the same session this act was repealed so far as it affected the waters 
of the Eastern Shore of the State (L. 1829-30, ch. 58), the restrictions against their use 
on the Western Shore remaining operative until 1834, although some difficulty was 
experienced in enforcing it during the two or three years immediately preceding its 
repeal. 
The enactments of 1829-30 (ch. 87) and 1835-36 (ch. 260) making a distinction 
between “county waters” and “State waters,” and prohibiting the citizens of one 
county from oystering in the waters of another county, affected to some extent the 
tonging industry by confining it closely to those counties having extensive reefs within 
their limits, 
