286 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
At present the force consists of 2 steamers, 9 schooners, 2 sloops, and 8 smaller 
and “local” boats. The latter are employed for six months only and are provided by 
certain counties to enforce the oyster regulations within their respective limits, yet 
are under the direction of the commander of the State force. They carry 3 or 4 men 
each and are armed with rifles. Of the State vessels, the steamers each have a crew 
numbering 12 men, and the schooners and sloops have 6 men each, all vessels being- 
furnished with one cannon and a number of rifles. This makes a total of 120 men in 
the force, and the cost of maintaining the fleet, including all salaries, provisions, 
ammunition, repairs, etc., has during the last five years averaged about $65,000 
annually. 
One of the sail vessels patrols the Chester River including Swan Point; one the 
Eastern Bay and tributaries and the waters of Talbot County as far down as Black 
Walnut Point; one the Choptank Elver and tributaries, one the Little Choptank Eiver; 
one the waters of Fishing Bay, Honga Eiver, Tar Bay, Hooper Straits, and Holland 
Straits ; one the waters of Wicomico County, one the waters of Somerset County ; two the 
waters of Anne Arundel, and two the waters of Calvert, St. Mary and Charles counties, 
while the steamers cruise throughout the State except in the Sinepuxent Bay. 
The principal duties of the force are to see that no one engages in oystering with- 
out obtaining a license, to prevent the dredgers from oystering on the reefs used by the 
scrapemen, and to prevent both dredgers and scrapemen from resorting to the areas 
reserved for the tongmen, to enforce the close season, the cull law, and the various 
minor regulations of the oyster industry, as well as the fish and water-fowl laws of 
the State. While during certain years this fleet has not succeeded In accomplishing 
as much as some persons expected of it, yet considering the extensive area of wg,ter 
to be guarded and the thousands of oyster boats and vessels at work, it is not surpris- 
ing that violations of the regulations occur. 
The most noticeable violations of the regulations are made by the dredgers in 
frequenting areas reserved for the tongmen. These became especially prominent in 
the fall of 1888. The police vessels were not so well armed then as at present and 
the oystermen lost confidence in the ability of the force, in the fights occurring, the 
former being frequently routed by the dredgers. On several occasions during that year 
a number of dredging vessels combined and openly defied the fishery force. This 
aroused popular attention; the fleet was better provided with arms and ammunition, its 
personnel reorganized, several dredging vessels were suuk, and a few men killed. Since 
then the oystermen have had greater respect for the law, and while at times a dredger 
may trespass on forbidden areas it is usually done under cover of darkness or fog, 
and such violations are not by any means so frequent as formerly. 
Prior to 1880 the members of the crew as well as the captain of the vessel were held 
liable for violations of the oyster laws, and the vessel was allowed to go free. When 
caught, the captain and crew were placed in jail, but the former was usually bailed 
out and his fine paid if the case ultimately went against him. The crew being penni- 
less and without friends frequently remained in jail for months, imposing an expense 
on the county. Many of these men were foreigners and very few of them were famil- 
iar with the laws regulating the fishery, and it was manifestly unjust to make them 
suffer for obeying the orders of their captains. This has since been remedied, and 
the penalty for violating the oyster laws is now properly shared by the vessel. 
