The Oyster Wars (1959) w/ Christine Keiner

This Day in Esoteric Political History

Jody Avirgan & Radiotopia

History

4.6 • 982 Ratings

🗓️ 30 March 2023

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It’s March 20th. This day in 1959, a skirmish between the fisheries police and an oyster boat results in the death of a Virginia oysterman — and sheds light on a decades-long battle known as the “Oyster Wars.”

Jody, NIki, and Kellie are joined by Dr Christine Keiner of RIT to discuss why there was so much tension and violence along the Chesapeake Bay, going all the way back in the mid-1800s.

Be sure to check out Christine’s book The Oyster Question: Scientists, Watermen, and the Maryland Chesapeake Bay since 1880

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from Radiotopia.
0:07.0	My name is Jody Avergan.
0:09.0	This day, March 1959, let's head to the eastern shore of Virginia near the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay.
0:16.8	Folks familiar with this area will know it as Delmarva, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia,
0:21.2	beaches and crabs and fishing, and on this day, the Potomac River Fisheries
0:25.9	Commissioner H.C. Bird ordered that the Fisheries Police be disarmed after an officer got
0:31.8	into a skirmish and killed a Virginia waterman who was
0:34.8	illegally dredging.
0:36.7	Now I know this sounds very obscure, a policy change at the Potomac River Fisheries Department,
0:41.9	but this policy change is in some ways
0:44.3	credited with reducing the temperature and largely bringing an end to what were
0:48.2	known as the Oyster Wars. And the Oyster Wars are super interesting and super long.
0:53.7	They were conflicts among fishermen and authorities and scientists and locals dating all the
0:57.8	way back into the mid 1800s.
1:00.5	So we're going to talk about this incident, but thester Wars in general and here as always are Nicole Hammer of Vanderbilt and Kelly Carter Jackson of Wellesley. Hello Jody. Hey there.
1:10.2	And we're very lucky to be joined by a special guest on this episode, Christine Kiner, chair of the Department of Science Technology and Society at the Rochester Institute of Technology.
1:20.0	She's also the author of the book The Oyster Question,
1:23.0	scientist Waterman and the Maryland Chesapeake Bay
1:25.6	since 1880.
1:27.6	Dr. Kiner, thanks for coming on the show.
1:29.4	We're really glad to have you to talk about this.
1:31.5	You're welcome.
	...

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