The Oyster Wars
Presentation by: Carolyn Carrithers, { Advisor: Mark Barrow The Chesapeake Bay “It is a rebellion and nothing less,”
Governor Elihu Jackson, Md. (1888) Fig. 2: Excerpt from New Orleans Crescent, 1869
Fig. 3: Excerpt from Helena Weekly Herald, 1888
Fig. 4: Evening Star, 1920 Overview Causes of the Oyster Wars Increased demand New technologies Uncertainty of science Political differences Results Legislation Resource management Natural Resources Police
Fig. 5: Oystermen at work on the Chesapeake, 1884 Thesis
The escalation of conflict in the Chesapeake Bay in the 1860s through the 1880s was caused by a clash between increased governmental interest in regulation of the oyster trade and increased harvesting pressures. Historiography Historiography cont. Political Environmental legislation Grandstanding Role of government in resource management Environmental Resource usage Trends in the fishing industry Heightened Demand
Canning Longer shelf life Railroads Post-Civil War increase Planting New England in decline
Fig. 6: Oyster tin collection, Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum Increased Harvesting New technology Dredging Factories More men, more boats
Fig. 8: Tonging for oysters
Fig. 7: An oyster dredge Oyster Catches
Fig. 9: Chesapeake oyster catches, 1840-1980 Legislation Taxation & Permits Residents only Harvesting limitations Season Size Method Maryland v Virginia Oyster Navy Oyster Police Research
Fig. 10: Title page of 1892 fisheries report Conclusion
Fig. 12: Historical and current oyster habitat extent Citations Images: Fig. 1: Retrieved from Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002698357/ Fig. 2-4: Newspaper excerpts from Chronicling America Fig. 5: Library of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/2002698359/ Fig. 6: Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum, http://beautifulswimmers.tumblr.com/post/46359462139/just-a-little- bit-better Fig. 7: Wikiwand, http://www.wikiwand.com/en/Fishing_dredge Fig. 8: Virginia Places, http://www.virginiaplaces.org/natural/oysters.html Fig. 9: Kennedy, Victor and Breisch, Linda. Sixteen Decades of Political Management of the Oyster Fishery in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay Fig. 10: Stevenson. Report of the Commissioner for the Year Ending in 1892 Fig. 11: Ermgassen et al. Historical Ecology with Real Numbers: Past and Present Extent and Biomass of an Imperilled Estuarine Habitat, http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/early/2012/06/07/rspb.2012.0313