Oystermen were happy when the tide is low and the wind blows steadily from the northwest. And the catch used to be plentiful. But now the 150 acres of oyster beds aren’t nearly as abundant as they once were. The dwindling stocks are due to poaching and shifting of sands. A single oysterman earns very little nowadays.
According to oystermen it is hard time as they you have lost the only thing you cared about in your life, it can’t get harder than that. They have been fishing these waters for nearly 30 years, first catching seed oysters (young shellfish that are transplanted into deeper waters to mature) and selling them to the big commercial shellfish companies.
It is said that in the 1980s the fishermen could haul 65 bushels of seed oysters in an hour. The beds were decimated by disease a decade later, but they slowly made a comeback. These oystermen are not happy with way their livelihood are threatening and the dwindling stocks of shellfish. Many oystermen let their boats on hire to tourists, wedding and for other occasion just to make the two ends meet.
