THE OYSTER INDUSTRY OF MARYLAND. 
247 
SCRAPING. 
Historical notes . — The expression “scraping” is here applied to the taking or 
catching of oysters by means of a scrape or dredge within the waters of a county, 
“dredging” being applied to the same form of fishery when prosecuted in the “State 
waters.” It is termed scraping from the fact that the vessels used are generally much 
smaller than those employed in the “ State waters,” and consequently must employ 
lighter dredges, which are known as scrapes. This branch of the oyster industry is 
prosecuted only in certain portions of three counties of the State, viz, Somerset, 
Dorchester, and Talbot. It originated in Somerset in 1854, eleven years before dredg- 
ing was authorized in “ State waters.” Sixteen years later the use of scrapes was 
authorized on the southern shore of Dorchester County, and in 1874 on the northern 
shore of that county and in portions of Talbot. 
The regulations permitting the use of scrapes in Somerset (L. 1854, ch. 4) author- 
ized any citizen of that county, after obtaining a license therefor, to use a vessel owned 
in the county to “catch oysters with a scrape or drag in any of the waters of said 
county, not parcel of any creek or river, not within 200 yards distance from the shore, 
and in waters not less than 21 feet deep.” The license, which was issued by the clerk 
of the circuit court, was operative for one year without close season, and cost $15 for 
each vessel, all moneys arising therefrom being paid into the school fund of the county, 
excepting 50 cents for each license, which went to the issuing clerk as his fee. As a 
large portion of Tangier Sound is situated within the limits of Somerset, this act 
opened to the use of the scrapemen a large area of very valuable oyster-ground. 
By the act of 1867 (ch. 129) the restriction against scraping in Somerset within 
less than 200 yards of the shore and in waters less than 21 feet deep was removed, and 
the license fee was reduced from $15 to $10. But this act also required that before 
receiving a license to scrape oysters the applicant should obtain from the comptroller 
of the State treasury a dredging license, in accordance with the general license law of 
the State, which had then been in force for two years, and it was made unlawful for 
anyone to scrape for oysters in any creek, cove, or inlet, or during the period in which 
dredging was interdicted in the bay, viz, June 1-September 1. 
Prior to 1877 the oystermen of Somerset enjoyed the privilege of scraping in a 
large portion of Pocomoke Sound, but after the award of the boundary commission of 
that year their operations were confined to the Maryland side of the new line, giving 
them only 23 square miles of area on the Pocomoke side of the county. In 1880 (ch. 
445) the use of scrapes in this portion of the Pocomoke Sound was prohibited. 
In 1884 the annual rate required to be paid for scraping licenses in this county 
was changed from $10 each vessel to $2 per ton of measurement, and it was further 
required that only such vessels as measured over 10 tons should obtain a State license 
before being licensed to use scrapes. In 1886 (ch. 489) the scraping license fee was 
reduced to $1 per ton and in the same year the close time was changed to April 1- 
September 30. 
By act of 1890 (ch. 629) the general assembly authorized an election to be held 
on May 13 of that year, in certain districts of Somerset, to decide whether to prohibit 
scraping in the waters of that county. The vote was favorable to the interdiction, but 
the courts decided that the procedure.was irregular. 
The scraping law operative on the southern shore of Dorchester County originated 
in 1870 (ch. 129), sixteen years after the privilege was first enjoyed in Somerset County. 
