All persons engaged in the cultivation of oysters on oyster beds held either in fee simple or in leasehold beyond the limits of the areas to be acquired for said waterway project from Winyah Bay to the State boundary line in the Savannah River shall be entitled to compensation for damages done to such oyster beds or the oysters therein by reason of dredging operations in the construction of said waterway, such compensation to be paid by the persons engaged in the dredging operations and not by the State.
S.C. Code § 3-5-110