How many bushels of oysters can 1 boat have?

On opening day of oyster season, the South River and other area waterways used to be full of boats working from bar to bar, hauling up the catch with tongs — metal baskets mounted on long wooden handles.

Earlier this week, there might have been two.

As of Oct. 1, watermen can catch oysters by hand tong, patent tongs — a motorized version with a larger basket — and diving. The limit is 15 bushels per day per licensed waterman, or 30 bushels per boat if more than one waterman is working on it.

Nov. 1 kicks off power dredging for oysters, but only in designated areas of Calvert, Dorchester, Somerset, St. Mary's, Talbot and Wicomico counties.

Mike Naylor, head of the shellfish division at the state Department of Natural Resources, expects this oyster season to be much like last year's — noticeably improved over past years, but a far cry from the glory days.

Last year was the best in 15 years, with about 422,000 bushels worth $14 million harvested, Naylor said.

But it's still a tough road for watermen like John VanAlstine, who keep up the tradition of tonging.

"We are not getting wealthy out here," VanAlstine said. "Fifty percent of my income is enjoyment, in doing what you want to do."

Water world

VanAlstine pulled away from the dock in Galesville around 7 a.m. Wednesday and headed to the South River and the public oyster bars "just to peck around."

He "follows the water" year-round, crabbing and pound-netting fish. He supplements his income with watermen's heritage tours and other activities.

Aboard the 40-foot Patricia Anne, three sets of tongs leaned against the side. At a bar near the mouth of the river, VanAlstine started the slow, repetitive, back-breaking work of tonging. As the steel basket with sharp rake tips scraped the bottom, VanAlstine felt the vibration coming up the handles to sense what's below.

Then, he began the scissorlike manipulation to gather shell and oysters between the basket's raked jaws.

Slowly, he hauled the tongs out of the water, hand over hand. As the basket broke the water, he used his right leg as a pivot to bring it up to deck level, and pivoted again to dump the haul onto a table. A dull thud or two indicated keepers in that load.

"It's like lifting a fourth-grade child out of the water all day long," he said after a few hauls.

After a couple hours, a little over two bushels were aboard.

"Not making any money here," the 48-year-old VanAlstine said. "Will have to sell them by the dozen to make any money today."

At the peak of the Chesapeake oyster harvest in the 1800s, more than 20 millions bushels were taken from the bay every year.

Hand tonging was in use then, but dredging rigs brought south by oystermen from New England and Long Island caused the annual take to explode.

Now, tonging has all but died out. "The total number of hand tongers left in the bay is less than 300, certainly less than 10 in Anne Arundel," Naylor said.

"We are about the only place for hand tonging on this side of the bay," VanAlstine said.

He sells his catch directly to local restaurants in south county, and to the public from his home off Jewell Road near the Calvert County line.

The biggest market for oysters is around Thanksgiving. "I sold 120 bushels last year to restaurants and the public," VanAlstine said. "Thanksgiving for oysters is like the Fourth of July weekend for crab sales."

He pays $1,700 for licenses, and then there is the cost of fuel to chug up and down the rivers, or to work waters farther south.

Upkeep on the Patricia Anne can run from $5,000 to $10,00 a year.

And then there all the rules.

"It is really a struggle to keep abreast of it," VanAlstine said. "You really need a lawyer. I am not against regulation and rules. I have never had a violation in my 20 years on the water."

There are a host of things he would like to see changed. "But I don't want to fight every fight, I want to work."

But working the water has not brought enough in. He also raises grass-fed chickens and turkeys on his farm off Jewell Road.

"I am in the chicken business because the crabs have been so bad. The last two years have been the worst for crabs in my 20 years on the water."

Then again, as the old waterman's adage says, a day on the water is better than any day on land.