Mailboat Harbor replaced Steamboat Harbor in the 1930’s as the age of steamboats came to a close. The harbor was first dredged in 1922 from the eastern side, and in 1967 it was dredged through to the western side of the island in a controversial undertaking. Although this saved watermen up to an hour getting home, many argued that it would increase erosion on the island’s western side, and that prediction proved correct. In 1989, a stone breakwater costing $3,500,000 and requiring a 400% tax increase was built, but it proved insufficient. In 1996, the US Congress approved a second jetty, but the project has never been funded. In 1915 Tangier licensed 91 oyster tongers, 62 dredgers, 3 patent tongers, 75 crab netters, 40 crab scrapers, 13 fishermen, and 43 pound fishermen working 152 pound nets. In 1947 the Tangier oyster fleet was made up of 34 boats with an average daily harvest of 25 bushels per boat, while crabbers caught 6,500 barrels of crabs and 15,000 dozen soft shell crabs. Soft shell crabs must be checked every two hours around the clock. In the past, soft shell crabs were raised in floating pens. Today, modern crab shacks fill the harbor, but remain susceptible to high winds and hurricanes. In 2007, only 35 boats remained active in the crab fleet, and 20 boats made up the oyster fleet.