THE OYSTER INDUSTRY OF MARYLAND. 
235 
$225. They sell their catch to the neighboring market-houses or to the transportation 
vessels. Usually the men engaging in this fishery do not work therein more than 
about 125 or 140 days during the season, the rough weather interfering with their 
operations during the rest of the time. During September, October, and November, 
which are particularly pleasant months on the Chesapeake, they average about 20 days 
each month; but in January and February they work only about 5 to 15 days each, 
and occasionally during those two months they are compelled to remain ashore for 
weeks at a time. 
DREDGING. 
Historical notes . — The use of dredges in the oyster fishery of Maryland originated 
about the beginning of the present century. In the early history of the industry the 
small quantity of oysters required to supply local markets did not warrant the pur- 
chase of these implements, but as the demand increased the more efficient apparatus 
was brought into use, and dredges were soon employed in all the waters of the State 
in which oysters were obtained in large quantities for commercial purposes, this being 
confined mostly to the lower portions of the bay. But their use had long been 
regarded as destructive to the reefs, and the opposition to them dated from their intro- 
duction into these waters. 
The first oyster law of Maryland (L. 1820-21, ch. 24), passed December 22, 1820, 
was enacted to prohibit their employment in any part of the State, this enactment 
being preceded by the preamble given on page 209, which sets forth the reasons for 
adopting this extreme protective measure. This regulation, however, on account of the 
extensive area of water to be protected, could not be fully enforced. In the attempt 
to enforce compliance with its provisions each tide- water county took the matter in 
hand, and the sheriffs with their deputies and the posse comitatus frequently sallied 
forth, impressing sail and steam vessels into their service to arrest the offenders, but 
without accomplishing the desired result. The law, however, was frequently reenacted 
or amended with increased or more easily applied penalties, and from 1820 to 1865 the 
use of any form of dredges in catching oysters in Maryland waters was unlawful, 
except as affected by a local regulation enacted in 1854 authorizing the use of scrapes 
in the waters of Somerset County by the citizens thereof. 
The difficulty experienced in wholly preventing this mode of oystering and the 
doubt entertained by many persons as to the good policy and utility of such a pro- 
cedure, together with the need of revenue in the State treasury, led to the compromise 
of 1865 and the adoption of the license system. 
This system provided in reference to dredging as follows : The comptroller of the 
State treasury was required to issue a license to any applicant who had been for the 
twelve months immediately preceding a resident of the State, said license authoriz- 
ing him to use a vessel owned by him in catching oysters by means of dredges from 
September 1 to June 1 following, in each year, u within the waters of the Chesapeake 
Bay, and not within any other bay, river, creek, strait, or sound, and not on any 
oyster bed or rock on or about Tally Point, Sandy Point, Hackett Point, Thomas 
Point, or Three Sisters, on the western side of the Chesapeake Bay, and not within 
the Chesapeake Bay where the water is less than 15 feet deep.” The fee for the license 
was placed at $5 per ton, the license to be renewed annually. Steam was not per- 
mitted to be used in any manner in the catching of oysters, and all licensed vessels 
