Lately I’ve spent lots of my time reviewing photographs shot decades ago. Many are all but forgotten and bring back memories, like images I made while oystering out of Tilghman Island, Maryland in 1982.
While crewing on the Virginia W, there were times when portions of the Chesapeake Bay froze extensively, and the fleet of sailing skipjacks remained at the dock.
The hand tongers however could reach areas still free of ice to get their harvest. Less efficient in catching oysters, it’s environmentally more friendly to benthic marine life on the bottom.
The shafts of hand tongs can reach lengths of 20 feet or more.
Tongers load the culling board while a crew member separates the good oysters and dumps the rest overboard.
A more efficient way to use tongs is hydraulically. Called patent tongs, they mechanically harvest much more than hand tongs.
Working with tongs is brutally physical. Imagine the workout you’ve had at the end of the day. These watermen oystered from a classic Chesapeake Bay dead rise, the Mina Conway. What a beautiful boat!