242 
BULLETIN OE THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
Apparatus and methods . — Each vessel engaged in dredging oysters in Maryland is 
provided with two dredges and two “winders” or windlasses for hauling the same, 
excepting that the very small boats employed have only one dredge and one windlass. 
The average weight of the dredge is about 100 pounds, no restriction on the size 
having ever been made in this State. They range in width from 2 to 4 feet, with from 
8 to 18 teeth, the greater number of them being 3 feet wide, with 12 to 14 teeth. The 
“winders” are securely fastened to the deck of the vessel about midship, one being 
located on each side. Opposite these and on the gunwales are placed rollers 3 or 4 feet 
in length to facilitate the lifting of the dredges. The average value of the dredges, 
winders, rollers, chains, and lines on each vessel is about $100. The winders employed 
on the better class of the vessels in the Chesapeake are so constructed that if the 
dredge should catch on some obstruction on the bottom the drum is automatically 
thrown out of gearing and the dredge rope allowed to run out. 
The vessel is controlled by the captain, who remains aft in order to attend to the 
steering and manage the sails; the mate, when one is carried, stands midship direct- 
ing the manipulations of the dredges, which are lifted by the winders, operated by the 
common hands. The vessel is usually worked with the wind, and may dredge length- 
wise or across the reefs. It requires from one to four weeks to obtain a load of oysters, 
the catch averaging from 20 to 80 bushels per day. Most of the vessels transport 
their catch to market, but some remain down the bay for months and sell their catch 
to the “buy” or transportation vessels. As they move from reef to reef, according to 
the condition and abundance of the oysters, frequently from 50 to 200 vessels may be 
sighted at work in a single locality. It is reported that the provisions used on the 
vessels are much better now than formerly, both in quantity and quality. The cost 
for an average-size vessel is now about $40 for a trip lasting three weeks. 
Probably no question of ecouomic importance connected with the fisheries has led 
to more dispute or to a wider difference of opinion among rival theorists and practical 
fishermen both of America and Europe than that relative to the effects of dredging upon 
oyster beds. The use of these implements beyond the productive powers of the reefs, 
when no provision is made for replacing breeding oysters thereon, is injurious ; but the 
same is true of any other form of apparatus. Dredges may also injure some of the oys- 
