Dec. 8 Letters: Oyster rules, W&M, election phone calls,
Medicare  December 07, 2012  One step too many  My Dad is 81
years old and he works an oyster dredge with his 75-year-old
friend. They have been self-employed watermen all of their
lives.  Working in the Chesapeake Bay in the winter months is no
picnic. Dad's actual day begins at sunrise, but he has been up
since 4. Each time the dredge is pulled aboard the boat, they
have to step up on a board, then dump the oysters on this same
board and step back down in the bottom of the boat. This is
where they cull (check to the size of) the oysters, putting them
in plastic tubs and then dumping them loose on the boat floor.
When they get to the Buy Boat, a Virginia legal-sized tub is
lowered and they begin shoveling their oysters in this tub.
Using a snow-like shovel with a three foot handle, keeps my Dad
in a bent position after already being tired from a hard day's
work. I am asking the members of the Commission to allow the
oysters to remain in the plastic tu