|
|
A recent photo of CASHIER as a powerboat, working the Maurice River Cove oyster grounds.
|
|
|
|
CASHIER was built in 1849 in Cedarville, Cumberland County, New Jersey, by Milton Duffield. Originally,
she was a two-masted schooner. Her registered dimensions are: Length 54.2', Beam 17.3', Depth 4.2', 19 gross tons, 9 net tons.
She holds New Jersey Oyster License No. 1.
|
|
|
Delaware Bay, between New Jersey and Delaware on the east coast of the U.S., was once one of the world's
most productive oyster grounds. Most of the oystering activity centered on the Maurice River and the towns of Port Norris,
Bivalve, Shellpile, and Maurice River. As many as 600 sailing oyster boats were berthed on the Maurice, and at the height
of the fishery, 90 railcars of oysters were shipped out weekly from the Maurice River ports.
Until 1938, oyster dredging was conducted entirely under sail. In 1938 and 1945, the regulations were amended
to allow the use of engine power while dredging. CASHIER, like many other schooners, is currently equipped with a diesel engine
(probably WWII surplus). Her sailing rig was removed in 1945, and she was rebuilt in 1949.
In the late 1950s, a protozoan parasite known as MSX struck the Delaware Bay oysters. Commercial landings
dropped 98% in two years. The oyster industry collapsed, and with it the local economy. Bivalve became a ghost town, and the
town of Maurice River burned to the ground and was never rebuilt.
|
|
|
Today, a few dozen powered ex-schooners still work the Delaware Bay oyster beds, as the oyster population
slowly recovers in spite of MSX and another disease, Dermo.
In 1995, the Delaware Bay Schooner Project (now the Bayshore Discovery Project) relaunched the restored
schooner A. J. MEERWALD in Bivalve. The MEERWALD, now New Jersey's Official Tall Ship is a powerful symbol of the restoration
of Delaware Bay. She operates as a floating environmental education classroom, hosting thousands of students each year. The
neighboring Bivalve Packing Company has restored the ADA C. LORE, relaunching her in 2001.
With your help, a newly restored CASHIER, not only the oldest of the Delaware Bay oyster fleet but the oldest
operational commercial fishing vessel in the U.S., will soon take her place alongside them!
|
SchoonerCashier@earthlink.net
|
