Rich clash with working class in new East Coast oyster war

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — Oystermen, pirates and police clashed violently more than a century ago over who could collect the Chesapeake Bay's tasty and lucrative oysters. As the shellfish makes a comeback, a modern-day oyster war is brewing, this time between wealthy waterfront property owners and working-class fishermen.

Over the past five years, oyster production has doubled on the East Coast, driven by new farming methods, cleaner water and Americans' growing taste for orders on the half shell. The resurgence has led to unprecedented resistance from coastal Virginians who want to maintain picturesque views from their waterfront homes and has fueled a debate over access to public waterways.

"These people can't have it all," said Chris Ludford, an oysterman in Virginia Beach who sells to nearby farm-to-table restaurants.

Ludford said he faces fierce pushback along a Chesapeake Bay tributary from people with "a $2,000 painting in their house of some old bearded oysterman tonging oysters.

"But they don't want to look out their window and see the real thing," he said.

Homeowners say the growing number of oystermen — dressed in waders and often tending cages of shellfish — spoil their views and invade their privacy. Residents also worry about less access to the water and the safety of boaters and swimmers.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/rich-clash-with-working-class-in-new-east-coast-oyster-war/ar-BBAAN46?li=BBnbfcN&ocid=edgsp

[enough]

1. No problem, if Trump has his way, these waters will go back to being so

polluted they won't be able to grow oysters there anyway. So the people in the waterfront houses won't have to look at anybody working, and they can't see the pollution in the water from their decks.

[mopinko]

2. fucking nimbys. good god i hate them.

i have my personal reasons. i have had my battles w them over my urban farm. (in a hood where we have always prided ourselves on being the last bastion of hippiedom)

but jeebus people. you are the ones eating the fucking oysters. and you dont want to pay jack shit for them, either. or at least dont care if the oystermen get paid for them. you are willing to pay stupid prices at your fancy restaurants.

there is a revolution going on in sustainable aquaculture that benefits both the oystermen and the ocean. fucking support it you selfish assholes.

[sarcasmo]

3. Rich folks here use the same argument against windmills in Lake Michigan.

"Our views, our views"

[ProudLib72]

4. This says it all

"Oftentimes, affluent and new members of the community have the point of view that they own the water in front of them, which is really not true," said Bob Rheault, executive director of the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association. "We need to win back our social license to farm."

No, you don't own everything you can see!

[SMC22307]

5. "These people can't have it all..."

That statement deeply saddens me. Whether said by VA oystermen, WV coal miners, NC textile or furniture workers, MI auto workers... people just trying to eke out a decent living.

[JI7]

6. they should move if they don't like the view of actual fisherman