Dreding in maryland waters.

[dbrick54]

Can you dredge in Maryland tidal waters? I have a 2" dredge and would like to dredge some old beaches by water. Is there any law that I should know about.

[Tom_in_CA]

I dunno about Maryland, but here in CA, a friend of mine, who was into dredging for gold, decided that he was going to try it on an ocean beach here. He had been detecting an area of the beach, where a "pleasure pier" had been from 1870s to 1940s (thousands of frollicking bathers all during those years). During some heavy storms in 1982-83, it got washed down to bedrock in some select portions, revealing oodles of coins and targets. It got quickly sanded back over with the normal 3+ ft. of sand. He reasoned that there must be a LOT down there, stuck to that strata of hardpan, where targets can not sink any further. So he took his dredge out into the surf to give it a try. No one ever said anything to him. But that was years ago (late 1980s), perhaps before the age of environmentalists saying that stirring up sediments is "polution" or whatever.

My hunch is that if you ask enough people/bureaucrats, you will eventually find someone who will tell you "no". But so too is that answer forthcoming if you ask enough people if you can pick your own nose Unlike metal detecting, which is a hand-held moving device, and quite casual, dredging is mechanical and akin to mining or harvesting type of operation. As such, there usually are laws about that, that apply to mineral rights, mining, claims, etc... Even though you are probably dredging for coins/jewelry (right?) and not minerals, yet dredging is most often associated with gold (nuggets, flakes, etc...) and therefore would probably fall into known existing laws. Ie.: you wouldn't have to look far to find out, without asking an actual person (who could just say "no" on a whim, even if no law existed).

I know that in CA for example, there were people who were harvesting sea kelp, depleting large beds at a time, angering naturists and scuba divers. When it came to push and shove (enough people complaining), the kelp harvesters were stopped (or had to limit themselves to lesser amounts) by virtue of these "natural resources"/"mineral rights" type laws wording. I don't think those laws could apply to coins and jewelry, since those are man-made items and not "naturally occuring" (as could be applied to logging and such).

Good luck

[dbrick54]

Thank you for the info. David