Alan Hogge beat the ice surrounding his boat Thursday with a stick, trying to break it up into chunks as he sat stationary in Deep Creek. For several days, he hasn't been able to get out to harvest oysters before the end of the commercial season on Friday.

"We haven't worked but one day this week," said Hogge, 52, of Poquoson, who has been a waterman for most of his life. "I spent three hours cleaning snow off the boat, but you don't get paid for that."

Hogge and other watermen said the Virginia Marine Resources Commission should consider extending the harvest season on the James River because of the icy conditions the past two weeks. But a spokesman for VMRC said that would not happen.

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