34 Report of the Board of Shell Fish Commissioners. 
CALVERT COUNTY. 
The oyster-producing waters of Calvert County include — 
those of the Bay, which wash the shores of the county, and — 
the waters of the Patuxent River. Fishing rights in the 
Patuxent have been granted, however, to the residents of © 
St. Marys and Charles counties and, for the purposes of 
carrying out the provisions of the laws relating to oyster — 
culture, the mid channel of the river is considered the bound, | 
ary line between the counties. 
The section of the Bay to the east of Calvert County, with 
the exception of an area within a radius of one-half mile of 
Plum Point, set aside for the use of tongmen, is designated 
by law as an area over which oystermen may work with — 
dredges. Dredging or scraping for oysters on the natura] _ 
oyster bars in the Patuxent River is prohibited, but on ac 
count of the fact that oysters grow at great depths! over 
large areas in many places, the use of patented tongs ig 
allowed. 
The oysters produced on the bottoms of the Bay and in 
the section of the Patuxent River below Point Patience are- 
considerably inferior to those grown on the bottoms above — 
Point Patience, hence, in developing tables for use in deter~ 
minirg the status of the grounds surveyed, a price of 75 
cents per bushel was adopted for oysters grown on grounds 
in the Bay and in the river below Point Patience, and one 
dollar per bushel for oysters grown on grounds situated above 
Point Patience. ‘ 
An oyster culture law, applicable to Calvert County only, 
was enacted by the same General Assembly (that of 1906) | 
which enacted the general oyster culture law for the whole 
State. The Calvert County Law was repealed by the General — 
Assembly of 1908, but the existence of the two conflicting — 
laws during the period when lessees were given the right by 
the Haman Oyster Culture Law to retain lots legally held on — 
the date of the passage of the General Law (April 1 to 
October 1, 1906), deterred a very considerable number of. 
lot holders in Calvert County from notifying the Shell Fish- 
1 It is not profitable to use hand tongs for gathering oysters in depths of wa a 
greater than 22 feet, and quite impossible at depths greater than 30 feet. 3 
