Hand tonging for oysters on the Chesapeake Bay

[samuelgordonelliott]

Tonging used to be the prefererd method in Gavleston Bay back in the day. I know of a few people who tong down west but the majority of oystermen use dredges. BTW since Ike, Texas oystermen are restricted to 90 bags per day. East Bay was reopened for oystering this year. The state has spent the last couple of years starting new oyster reefs using river rock as substrate and they are just now going to dredge the mud off the reefs that were smothered by the hurricane.

[tubeyou9878]

The oysters clean up the water. They have to clean up the water. Then maybe cut off oyster tonging after Christmas for a year. Oysters could recover and you'd make more next year. You tongue up to April and they can't grow.

[tivtav]

I'm very proud to say this is my father!! Your family loves you very much for working so hard all of these years, and always keeping it real..."old school"!!

[bbwelder]

You hit it on the head buddy! The pollution, developements, sewage plants are what killed the oyster bars. Watermen did their share but anytime you have to grow oysters in "cages" to get them up off the bottom of the river tells you there is something wrong at the bottom of the river. The oyster bars here in Southern MD have NOT been worked in years and have NOT replenished themselves. The problem is in the water!

[patti628]

@bbwelder what part of southern md? i grew up in solomons and st georges

[dickjohnson474747]

HEll YEAh! old school

[ShannyCleaner]

yeah buddy! when's the oyster season? By the way that looks super hard...

[njangraw]

very interesting video. keep up the legacy.