Bivalve, at the mouth of the Maurice River on Delaware Bay, is a working waterfront community whose identity is rooted in the rich oyster beds of this coastal estuary. In the mid-19th century, a railroad linked Bivalve to wider trade routes as an oyster planting center, where seed oysters were transplanted to privately cultivated bay bottom, grown to maturity, and harvested for market. Its harbor once teemed with oyster schooners, often six deep off the piers. Oyster production was later struck by disease in the 1950s and again in the 1980s, as well as by government regulations, ecological changes, and lower oyster prices. In response, oystermen adapted their boats to surf-clamming, families added fin-fishing and crabbing, and shuckers and boat crews took part-time jobs in restaurants, at the local prison, or at a sand plant. Unlike other Mid-Atlantic maritime communities where outsiders often bought waterfront property for recreation, Bivalve’s private marinas are owned and operated by local oyster companies, and oystering remains the shared occupational experience that unites residents. Founded in 1988, the Bayshore Discovery Project works to encourage care for the environment, history, and culture of New Jersey’s bayshore region, including restoration of the A.J. Meerwald, an oyster schooner built in 1928 and designated New Jersey’s official tall ship in 1988, while education programs on land and under sail promote environmental stewardship and sustain cultural continuity in New Jersey’s historic oyster capital.