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Headquartered in Elkton, MD
Exploring the rich working heritage of the Upper Chesapeake Bay, Cecil County watermen, skipjack sail fleets, hand-dug C&D Canal history, Havre de Grace decoy carving traditions, and screw-pile lighthouses.
The skipjack is a traditional V-bottom sail-powered dredge boat developed in the late 19th century. Maryland state law required oyster dredging under sail to protect oyster beds from over-harvesting, creating a unique maritime fleet that defined Upper Bay culture for over a century.
Connecting the Delaware River to the Chesapeake Bay, the 14-mile C&D Canal was hand-dug by 2,600 laborers using pickaxes and wheelbarrows. The original lock system in Chesapeake City featured the historic 1837 waterwheel pump engine that lifted millions of gallons daily.
Situated at the mouth of the Susquehanna River, Havre de Grace earned international fame as the "Decoy Capital of the World." Master carvers like R. Madison Mitchell crafted hand-carved cedar canvasback decoys used by market gunners and sports across the Susquehanna Flats.
Every spring, millions of anadromous American and Hickory Shad migrated up the Susquehanna River to spawn. Historic shore fisheries harvested shad using giant haul seines, providing essential spring food supplies to Cecil and Harford County farm families.
Screw-pile cottage lighthouses were engineered specifically for soft muddy bottoms of the Chesapeake Bay. Iron piles were screwed deep into riverbeds to support hexagonal wooden keeper quarters, guiding steamships and schooners through narrow shoals.
Derived from Native American dugout canoes, Chesapeake log canoes were carved from five to seven pine logs joined with iron bolts. They evolved into bugeyes—flat-bottomed, pin-rail rigged workboats that predated modern skipjacks.
John Smith maps the upper regions of the Chesapeake Bay, encountering native tribes along the Susquehanna River and documenting massive schools of fish.
Maryland and Virginia negotiate navigational and fishing rights on the Potomac River and Chesapeake Bay, setting early precedents for interstate maritime cooperation.
The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal officially opens to navigation, drastically reducing travel time between Philadelphia and Baltimore.
The first iron screw-pile lighthouse in Maryland is installed to mark the shoals at the mouth of the Patapsco River.
Maryland restricts oyster dredging to sailboats only (spawning the Skipjack fleet) to slow the harvest and preserve the beds.
Violent conflicts erupt between illegal dredgers (oyster pirates) and the Maryland Oyster Navy enforcing state conservation laws.
The dam completely blocks historic American Shad migration runs up the Susquehanna River, altering upper bay fisheries forever.
Maryland implements a complete ban on catching rockfish (striped bass) due to a near-total collapse of the population.
Following a dramatic recovery, the striped bass fishery is reopened with strict quotas, hailed as a monumental conservation success.
The invasive Northern Snakehead is found in Crofton, MD, leading to widespread changes in upper bay ecosystem dynamics and sportfishing.
Maryland and Virginia agree to strict female blue crab harvest limits to rebuild depleted stocks.
The EPA establishes the historic Total Maximum Daily Load "pollution diet" to restore water quality across the watershed.
First-ever coastwide catch limits are placed on menhaden, the crucial forage fish for striped bass and osprey.
As snakeheads proliferate the Potomac and Susquehanna, commercial and recreational targeting accelerates, cementing their place as a premier gamefish.
Maryland ramps up commercial and recreational efforts to control the exploding invasive blue catfish populations threatening native species.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, Havre de Grace and the Upper Bay rivers supported one of the largest seasonal fisheries in the world. Millions of American Shad and River Herring flooded the Susquehanna and Elk Rivers each spring to spawn. Massive haul seines, sometimes over a mile long and operated by horses and dozens of men, pulled ashore tens of thousands of fish in a single sweep.
The salted herring and shad fed the growing colonies and became a major export. This boom economy built the waterfronts of Havre de Grace, Port Deposit, and Elkton, establishing a deep-rooted angling and commercial fishing culture that persists today, even though the historic runs were severely diminished by the construction of the Conowingo Dam.
The Susquehanna Flats—a vast expanse of underwater grass beds—attracted millions of migratory waterfowl. To hunt them, Havre de Grace locals pioneered the art of decoy carving, elevating working wooden blocks into an internationally recognized American folk art form.
In the waters themselves, "pound netting" became a staple. These elaborate traps, constructed by driving long wooden poles into the bay floor and stringing nets between them in a maze-like heart shape, funneled migrating fish into a central pound. The traditional pound netter's deep knowledge of tides, currents, and seasonal fish migrations laid the foundation for modern sportfishing tactics on the flats.
A shallow-draft, V-bottomed sloop designed specifically for oyster dredging under sail. Featuring a massive main mast, they remain the last commercial sailing fleet in North America.
Motorized deck boats that would meet skipjacks and tongers out on the oyster beds, "buying" their catch to transport quickly to shucking houses in Baltimore and Crisfield.
A long, narrow motorized workboat recognized by its distinctive rounded, reverse-slope "draketail" stern, designed for speed and stability in choppy bay waters.
Evolved from Native American dugouts, these sailing vessels were constructed by joining multiple hollowed-out logs. Today, they are raced in highly competitive summer regattas.
The iconic modern waterman's boat. Featuring a sharp V-bow that flattens out toward the stern ("deadrise"), they provide a stable platform for crabbing and trotting.
A fast, two-masted keelboat characterized by their raked masts and pink-and-green paint schemes. They were primarily used for hauling heavy cargos like oysters and lumber.
The five-year complete closure of striped bass fishing allowed a decimated stock to rebound to record levels, serving as a global model for fishery management.
Drastic reductions in the harvest of mature female blue crabs were implemented to ensure enough spawning stock remained to replenish the bay's most iconic crustacean.
Recognizing menhaden as the vital forage base of the ecosystem, ASMFC enacted the first coastwide reduction quotas on industrial reduction fishing.
Initially ordered to be killed on sight, regulations evolved to actively promote the harvesting and recreational pursuit of this pervasive invasive species.
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