Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-02-07
OUR OYSTER INDUSTRY.

Believing that the oyster industry o.
our State, properly appreciated and en-
couraged, is destined to become a great
element Of wealth and prosperity to our
people. and q source of considerable
revenue to the State, | crave brief
space in your columns to direct the at
tention ofour legislators to this subject.
Allow me, as a Tidewater man, as a
friend OF the oysterman, and, above all,
as q loyal citizen Of Virginia, to express
the hope that our Legislature will not
adjourn until it shall have done some
thing to take this industry out Of the
old rut in which it has been for so many
years. The oystermen complain that
they are subjected to unequal and UNI
just taxation, and the citizens of other
sections Of the State murmur because
the oyster does not contribute more to
the revenues Of the Commonwealth. |
assume that there is ground for the
complaints Of each.
II it be true as contended that the
beds Of our bays, rivers, and creeks are
held by the Commonwealth in trust for
the people, the trust ought to be adj
mnistered for the benefit OF oil the
people, and not entirely for particular
class or section. Therefore, as a Tide
water man, frankly admit that this
industry ought to contribute to the ex-
penses of the State and the general
prosperity of the people, and am pre-
pared to assert that it may be made to
do both without injury to the industry
and without additional burdens to those
engaged in it.
No subject in my opinion at this
time ought to more confidently and con-
stantly invoke the best thought Of osr
Virginia legislators. The statesman
who will give to it his most earnest
study and apply to its solution broad
and comprehensive spirit, will in the
beginning encounter deep-seated pre-
JUDGES, but will ultimately find rich
reward.
In dealing with this question we have
heretofore acted upon the theory that
the oyster-beds of this Commonwealth
are inexhaustible. Human science and
philosophy, the common observation Of
even the most casual, and the actual
experience Of every practical oyster
man demonstrate with automatic precl-
sion the fallacy of such an idea. Sci
entists tell US that to every LEGO full
grown oysters we find not more than
42l half.grown ones that about ~
per cent. of all full-grown oysters pro-
duce young, and that every such full
grown oyster lays at least l,o00,oOO
eggs. Then it irresistibly follows that,
under our present system Of deple-
ton without cultivation, two results
necessarily follow-firSt, the annual
sacrifice Of millions Of young oysters,
and secondly. the ultimate exhaustion
and destruction of the beds. Again,
where is the Nirginian who has ever
breathed our soft sea air thst has
not heard of and tasted. too. the deli
cious HamptOn-bar oyster; The mere
mention of this celebrated blyalye will
doubtless recall to many Of your read
ers fond and tender recollectiOns of the
past. The llamptOn-bar oyster is no
longer a luxury Of the seaside. The
places that knew him once knew him
no more. The submarine bottoms
where in times past he was found in
abundance are as barren of production
as the sandy desert. Ii is no uncom-
mon thing to hear our Oystermen COM
plain Of the depletion Of the natural
beds. and that, too, in waters where the
dredge is never used. And such has
been the history of the same policy
elsewhere; indeed, its inyariable his
tory. On the rich Oyster-beds Of Con-
Gale, on the coast Of Normandy, from
1912 to l849 100000 oysters were
caught on an average every year. In
1859 the number had decreased to
10000, 900, in 1851 to 1900, 600, in
1868 to 100000, aud IN 1865 to
100000.
Then. if il be true that many of our
natural oyster-beds have been destroyed
and those left US are being gradually
exhausted. something must be done, or
this industry, which furnishes employ
ment and food to SO many Of our peo-
pie. will cease to exist. The remedy
consists. in my Judgment, in a radical
change of policy. There are thousands
upon thousands Of acres of submarine
soil in the waters of Virginia absolutely
proftless, unused and unOccupied either
by the toDgman, the dredger, or the
planter, which might by pro-
per legislation be made a source
of great revenue to the State
and Of incalculable profit to her citi-
zens. How can this great result be at
tanned: Let the Legislature appoint a
commission to examine these grounds
and ascertain which of them are used as
natural oyster beds or rocks, and when
that commission has reported, let the
Legislature declare that such of said
grounds as are not used as natural beds
or rocks shall be open to planting pdr'
poses for a period say of twenty years
to any one who will in good faith plant
oysters on them, the State charging a
fair rental for the use OF the grounds.
1t requires vast capital to conduct
such business. Capital will not, as
the law now stands, touch the grounds,
because, first, the tenure is liable at
any time to be disturbed by change
of the law; and secondly, because ex-
perience has demonstrated that the
definition Of a natural oyster-bed oil
rock is so uncertain as 20 make any
effort to plant on debatable ground ar
enterprise of great risk. No capitalist
is willing to invest his money on thu
cast of the judicial die. But let th'
Legislature determine by metes anC
bounds. specifically and definitely. wha
grounds are open to planting, an
then fix the tenure definitely TO
a specific period. Thus the whole mat
ter will become ono Of contract, au'
capital will not be backward in en-
gaging in the business. will no
. pause to point out in detail the result
of such policy. Under proper restrlc
tons, at the expiration Of the twent.
years these exhausted beds will be re