The Waterman's Way of Life

The Waterman's Way of Life. From boom to bust in the oyster industry. , The Golden Age of the skipjack , Before 1890, big sail-powered bugeyes, brogans, sloops and schooners dredged for oysters in deeper Bay waters. When those oysters were overharvested, a different kind of boat was needed to get to oyster beds in shallower water. Enter the shallow draft skipjack. By 1920 over 600 skipjacks had replaced the older, deeper draft dredge boats. Built from local loblolly pine and white oak, skipjacks had a working life of about 20 years. Once repairs became too extensive or too expensive, usable parts were stripped and worn-out boats were towed up the nearest creek and left to return to nature. Today, fewer than 30 skipjacks survive, and only a handful are still capable of dredging for oysters. Skipjacks are the last working boats under sail in the United States., Did you know? , Maryland named the skipjack as the state boat in 1985, when the General Assembly declared: ,

"Nothing better represents the way of life of Maryland watermen than the historic Chesapeake Boat known as the Skipjack…"

, Chesapeake Bay oyster population , In pre-colonial times, oysters in the Chesapeake Bay were so abundant and so good at filtering the water that you could see the bottom 25 feet below. But a huge increase in human population, as well as overharvesting, pollution, and disease took their toll. While Cambridge boats harvested 1 million bushels of oysters in one year in the late 1800s, today the entire Chesapeake Bay harvest averages 300,000 bushels each year. With less than 2 percent of historic oyster populations remaining, you're lucky if you can see 2 to 3 feet below. Today, ongoing efforts aim to restore native oyster beds, and robust oyster aquaculture is helping create sustainable seafood and filtering capacity.