Patent tonging oysters

Hand tonging is hard, slow work. Sometimes each "lick" of the tongs brings up only a few oysters. Even so, most of the oyster harvest from the Chesapeake is taken with hand tongs.
A more modern method is patent tonging. The patent tong is similar to the metal part of hand tongs, but they are larger. They are hinged so that they open as they are lowered and close as they are lifted. They are attached to a cable instead of wooden handles. A motor aboard the deadrise raises and lowers them. The patent tongs allow the watermen to gather a larger amount of oysters in a shorter time.