Oyster War!

North Carolina's first fisheries regulations, which established gear restrictions, were passed in 1822. Oyster tongs were to be the only legal means of harvesting oysters except in the Pamlico and Roanoke sounds where dragging was allowed in waters more than eight feet deep.

After the Civil War, markets began to open to oysters which translated into cash for a harvest that previously was traded for produce or other needed supplies.

Before the war, on the Outer Banks, fishermen gathered oysters between January and April to trade for corn on the mainland, bushel for bushel. In the summer months some harvested small 'coon' oysters to be sold on the mainland as fertilizer at a price of three to five cents per bushel.

Little meaningful management occurred until 1885 when the General Assembly, prompted by concerns about diminishing oyster populations, passed a resolution to ask the federal government to detail some person of the public service to make the necessary surveys needed to locate the state's natural oyster beds and suitable locations for culturing oysters.

A few areas needed further study, but the survey included most of the natural oyster beds and private oyster gardens and identified suitable areas for shellfish cultivation.

Freshwater drainage into the Albemarle Sound subsequently found its way into the northern Pamlico and Croatan sounds, resulting in few of the salt-dependent oysters in that area, but Roanoke Sound was partially protected from the freshwater intrusion by Roanoke Island, and nearby Oregon Inlet allowed a sufficient flow from the ocean.

Oysters extend through Roanoke Sound wherever the water is sufficiently deep enough to protect them from the heat and cold.

Stumpy Point "bay or lake" was listed as being "very important." The area was deemed a good place to deposit oysters for "fattening" before taking them to market. The area from Ocracoke Inlet to Portsmouth Island was identified as "the most important in the state," a point which later would take on an irony of its own.

There were 10,000 acres of natural beds and, the 1880 U.S. Census reported that 170,000 bushels of oysters were harvested in the state that year. Some parts of the natural beds were unproductive, so that the average harvest of productive bottom was about 34 bushels an acre.

There were only two solutions, the study concluded in summary. The state could restrict harvest, but that would "deprive the poor of subsistence and livelihoods." Or it could increase the supply. Removing residency requirements for leasing bottom and lifting the ban on leasing more than 10 acres would encourage the cultivation of oysters thus raising the numbers.

The study suggested selling "franchises" of bottoms suitable for growing oysters, but not considered natural beds. The franchisees would receive a deed to the submerged land that could be left to their heirs. The state, serious in its attempt to restore the oyster populations, followed the suggestions.

Near-shore beds remained capped at 10 acres and reserved for residents, but other provisions allowed 640-acre beds to be leased in deeper waters by both residents and nonresidents.

The report added to the oyster frenzy building along the coast where canneries were springing up in an effort to supply the growing northern markets. According to Carter, most of the processing facilities were owned by Baltimore-based companies.

Conflicts grew between the "tongers" and "dredgers," many of whom were coming from out of state. Problems escalated, and in 1889 nonresident dredging was banned. But there was little enforcement.

The frustration with the nonresident dredgers finally boiled over into the "Oyster War of 1891" during which oystermen armed themselves before going to the oyster beds.

In response, legislation was passed that year which allowed the governor to use the military to enforce the oyster laws. Unfortunately and embarassingly, although Gov. Daniel G. Fowle didn't hesitate in calling up the Pasquotank Rifles, they had no big guns or ammunition.

The "Oyster War" of 1891*

The exact nature and extent of the military force to be used had not been established by the General Assembly.  Governor Daniel G. Fowle, himself a native of Washington, N.C. and no stranger to oyster controversy, delayed signing the bill while he spent a frantic two days assembling a regiment of the State Guard and locating arms and ammunition for the patrol vessel Vesper.

Fowle had little trouble in calling up the Pasquotank Rifles out of Elizabeth City. But the problem of how adequately to arm the patrol vessel was perplexing. Fowle sent a hasty telegram to the Secretary of War requesting a largebore cannon and ammunition; the Secretary of War responded that North Carolina's fiscal situation was such that the War Department would not extend credit to the State government in this way.

After another equallyunsuccessful attempt to borrow a cannon from South Carolina, Fowle finally sent an appeal by telegram to thegovernor of Virginia, who responded with the loan of a Howitzer gun and ammunition.

Once the gun arrived in Elizabeth City, Fowle signed the bill into law. Implementation was swift.

The Norfolk Virginian's correspondent in Elizabeth City, N.C., reportedon January 21, 1891, the day the law took effect, that:

"One or two hundred vessels owned and manned by nonresidents of this State, have been poaching upon the oyster beds in the lower sounds of North Carolina.

Today, the Pasquotank Rifles left on the steamer Vesper for the purpose of driving off the poachers and enforcing the laws of North Carolina."

North Carolina clearly meant business:

"If any dredgers are found continuing to ravage the oyster beds they will be arrested, even if their boats have to be blown out of the water and their crews killed."

A similar expedition against non-resident oystermen was launched in February 1891 from New Bern "abundantly supplied with arms and ammunition. All violators will be arrested and taken into port for trial."

Despite armed, quasi-military patrol of the Sound, the captain and crew of only one vessel were arrested and brought to trial for violation of the new law.

*The More Things Change: Oysters, Public Policy, and Species Decline in the Pamlico Sound, 1880-1900, KATHLEEN S. CARTER, High Point University

While oyster wars were being fought, legislation was being passed, and the state was taking its first real step into fisheries management.

Legislation reduced the harvest, and within several years, oysters were thought to have recovered, and dredging resumed.

ANOTHER KIND OF OYSTER WAR

As peaceful as they look to be there is something about oysters that engender strife.

A case, originating in oysters, occurred in New Bern on Wednesday in which an oyster patrolman named J.C. THOMAS whose headquarters were at Coinjock, Currituck County, was shot, but not mortally wounded, by Jones SPENCER of Hyde County who recently published an article in the Washington Gazette reflecting upon the character of THOMAS and charging that he was bribed while at his official business at Coinjock and had used harsh terms about him, when SPENCER pulled out a pistol and told THOMAS he would shoot him if he came nearer.

THOMAS continued to advance when SPENCER fired and a ball struck his abdomen and lodged in his hip. THOMAS was badly wounded and SPENCER was arrested, bought before Mayor WILLIAMS, waived examination and was placed under a bond of $400 with Messrs. SIMMONS and MOORE as sureties.

THOMAS was a patrolman at the oyster grounds, SPENCER was also a patrolman appointed by Hyde County and was ordered to Coinjock. SPENCER published the results of his investigations and charged corruption upon THOMAS and bribery by non-resident oyster pirates. This led to the difficulty between the two.

(The Economist -  Hyde County, NC Tuesday, May 6, 1890)