The Chesapeake & Beyond (continued)
By 2022 close to 8,000 acres have been put into conservation easements in Kent County as a way to maintain this unique cultural landscape. Six states (NY, PA, MD, WV, VA & DE) are a part of the 64,000 square miles known as the Chesapeake Watershed. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) notes that 100,000 tributaries eventually end up in the Bay, with the Susquehanna River providing close to 50 percent the Bay’s fresh water. According to the CBF, that is a rate of 19 million gallons per minute.
Early colonists fished for the family or community, but commercial fishing did not take off until the late 19th century. Before dredging techniques long-handled tongs were used to catch oysters, they are still in use today. The Chesapeake Bay was originally named Chesepiooc by the indigenous people in the area who spoke Algonquian. It meant “great shellfish bay”. Today it is still renowned for seafood production, but there was a time back in the mid-1800’s when oysters were truly the “pearls of the bay” or sometimes referred to as white gold. By the 1850s, an estimated 1.5 million bushels of oysters were taken and by 1880, 20 million were harvested (CBF.org). They were dredged almost to extinction.
By the 1840’s Baltimore had over 100 canneries with others found around Chesapeake as well. Canning aided in the reduction of spoiling and with improved modes of transportation, delivery of seafood from the Bay made it to other markets faster. This ability whipped demand up for Chesapeake oysters into a frenzy. Competition among watermen became brutal. With a large number of oystering vessels from other states clambering for the biggest catch too, violence ramped up as did piracy. From 1884 through the 1950s, the conflicts became known as the Oyster Wars. Being a waterman was now more dangerous and while laws were put into place, they were often poorly written and lacked the resources to enable the newly formed Maryland State Oyster Police Force (1886) to enforce them. This early law enforcement agency later became known as the Department of Natural Resources Police (NRP).
The conflict and competition inspired local watermen and boat builders to design simple sailing vessels specifically for use on the Chesapeake (i.e. bugeyes, skipjacks). These vessels were better at navigating the shallow parts of the Bay and creeks enabling faster access to the oyster reefs and crabs. It was the skipjacks that became more popular than the bugeyes, as they were made especially for dredging on the Bay. In tow behind many of them, were small shanty “ark boats” mentioned above in What are Chesapeake Fishing Shanties.
Shanty boats could be found on many waterways around the U.S., from the mid-1800’s until the 1950’s. Designs varied based on purpose and how they were used was often changed by what was happening in history. While not confirmed, it is probable shanty boats on the Chesapeake were placed with armed watermen to protect oyster reefs and crab turfs during the Oyster Wars. It is also quite possible they were used to run or conceal alcohol during Prohibition, as they were able to get back into the small shallow creeks to hide. In the early 1900’s the Potomac River near Alexandria, Virginia had a lack of laws regarding house boats and businesses on the water, so a hundred or so two-story “ark boats” sprung up as brothels. The Great Depression made thousands of shanty boats a source of permanent housing on the nation’s waterways and banks. On the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, it was estimated that over 50,000 people called shanty boats of varying sizes and comforts home. Just as when a dozen or more hooked together near oyster beds on the Chesapeake, a collection pulled together on or off land was commonly referred to as a “shanty town”. By the end of World War II the majority of them were gone. Leisure fishing and boating is a big deal on the Chesapeake Bay, but there still remains a large number of commercial fishing boats that make Rock Hall, Maryland their headquarters during the season, and upward of 2,000 persons are engaged in the industry.
The Chesapeake Fishing Shanty Conservancy and Crew invites everyone to cruise through our website and resources to learn more about shanty boats on the Chesapeake Bay and beyond.