Secure The Oyster Wars Of Chesapeake Bay Author John R. Wennersten Paperback

wonderful read with a very interesting history, So much new information that I did not know! It wasn't until, when John F, Kennedy signed into law regulations regarding oystering operations in the Chesapeake Bay, that nearlyyears of murder and mayhem over oystering rights and boundaries and the environmental problems of overharvesting oysters were settled.
Stayed in St. Michaels last year and bought this book in the lobby of the hotel, Interesting if you are staying on the Chesapeake a bit of a bore if youre not, The overarching theme here is the inevitable collision of oldtimers with their traditional way of life and newcomers with modern technology and indifferent political policy.
Its a fascinating look at a dying way of life Albeit a bit monotonous, Good history of the over harvesting of thes ands and the wild west that was oystering, In

the decades following the Civil War, the Chesapeake Bay became the scene of a lifeanddeath struggle to harvest the oyster, one of the most valuable commodities on the Atlantic coast.
Nearly seven thousand men fought on the Bay for oysters until the resource was almost exhausted in the early twentieth century.
First the shallowwater tongers fought with the deepwater dredgers whose scooplike instruments left few oysters for reproduction, Later, Maryland and Virginia violently disputed their state boundaries for the sake of oysterfishing rights in the Bay and Potomac River.
This regional and social history is brimming with episodes involving watermen, law enforcement officers, government officials, Bay scientists, immigrants, and oyster shuckers, all of whom were drawn into the lethal conflict.
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