'Already the sound of rifle fire has echoed across the Potomac River.  Only fifty miles from Washington men are shooting at one another.   The night is quiet until suddenly shots snap through the air.  Possibly a man is dead, perhaps a boat is taken, but the oyster war will go on the next night and the next.'' Washington Post, 1947

The Oyster Wars

Oysters have been at the center of conflict and disagreements for over a century. These disagreements centered on two issues. The tongers felt that the dredgers were taking more than their share of the best oysters. As oysters became less plentiful, the tongers blamed the dredgers for their reduced income. There was also conflict between the Virginia watermen and the Maryland watermen. They did not agree on the line between Maryland and Virginia waters. Each felt the other was stealing oysters that rightfully belonged to their state. These feuds were often fierce and bloody. They came to be known as the Oyster Wars.  In 1868, the Maryland Oyster Navy, a special police force, was established to bring law and order to the Bay and the Potomac River. Not until 1962 were laws passed that brought these conflicts to a formal end.