Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1893-03-19
THE OYSTER SURVEY
ALEoAL eouNoARv-llNE BETWEEN
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE RIGHTS.
vssntass Where Completed and How II
van Operate for Public AdvanssEe-
Hsvenus and Rental


y sccVupAisn practcaliy py sucu hsuf'
vcy.
The writer had the honor 70 DO detailed
BY his official chief (the Superintendent Of
Che United States Coast and Gcodetic Sur.
veyl 10 make this survey. This detail was
made at the instance of the Governor oil
Virginia and o committee OF the State
Legislature.
No civilized country or State with natu.
sal oyster deposits has ever been willing
70 cell them. Their reservation as State
property. TO be worked by citizens of the
state under some form of government
control, has seemed TO be the universal
xule.
These natural oyster deposits have been
very largely extended in many States by
artificial means. The value OF the she'll
nsh produced by planting Is in some States
many times as great as that OF oysters
taken from natural beds.
In Connecticut. for instance, OF the
1882, lag derived from the sale of oysters
from May 1, 1888, to May !. 1889. only
ers." Connecticut Bureau of Labor Sta
tistics, 1890. page 113) The total area OF
natural beds in that State Is only l9.309
acres. while the rented State ground
amounted IN 1883 to 74.574 acres.
Neither Connecticut nor any other state
or country has ever been able TO extend
Its oyster area to any considerable degree
by planting without first having a survey
made. legally delineating the boundaries
OF b natural oyster areas. This may be
said to be a sine qua non OF oyster culture.
There must be q legal boundary between
public and private rights.
EFFECT OF SURVEYS.
Connecticut authorized such q survey
es far back as 1881. The phenomenal
growth of her oyster interests began soon
after the completion of the survey.
In France, where oyster planting has
been very proftably carried on, O survey
legally delineatiug natural oyster deposits
was first authorized. In New York q siini-
lar survey has been made. In the report
of the Commissioners OF Fisheries OF New
York QS9l) ii Is stated, on page 1879. that
AL the natural beds of oysters of the
State are now properly located and
mapped. and there can be nc further dis
pute. The importance of mapping and
surveying these natural-growth beds can
not be over-estimated. They have been
fruitful sources of trouble and dispute for
years, and now they are definitely settled
there can be no further trouble. The
maps are now complete, and are OF great
value to the State"
The experiences of other States might be
lited.
II cannot be denied that if the survey
when complete enables tongmen to deter
nine without a trial by Judge or jury
whether a planter has taken up natural
beds. and a planter to know If his private
beds have been trespassed upon by tong
men and public dredgers, much will have
been gained. The material growth OF
many q country has been seriously lin.
peded by uncertainty as TO the titles and
boundaries of property. The Legislature.
in the act passed February %, 1892. au-
fhorizes the county judge in each oyster
county to appoint three county commls-
~sioners, whose duty IT shall be 20 delineate
the presence of the Fish COMMISSIONS
OF Virginia all natural oyster-beds rocks,
and shoals embraced in the limits of the
county. 1t Is the writer's duty 10 survey
aud map these beds.
WHERE COMPLETED.
Such q survey has been completed in the
following counties Norfolk, Nansemond.
City. WarwicI, Isle OF Wight,
and James City, and more than half com
pieted in Mathews county, while in AccO-
mac county all the natural oyster-grounds
in Chesapeake waters have been surveyed.
The position of oil the corners Of the natu-
raj rocks (the corners having been selected
which has been adopted in other
S:ateS.) have been surveyed from
shore stations and deter
mined by logarlthmic computations.
Complete charts of all the counties sur
veyed are now in the hands of the litbo-
.graphors. They will shortly be issued and
will be within the reach of all. From
charts and the accompanying scale
the approximate position with reference to
he shore line, &c, of all natural oyster
deposits NAV be determined by any one of
ordinary intelligence. A civil engineer
or photographic surveyor can, from
records which will be on file
at the county court-hOuSe. restore
n corner with any degree of accuracy de-
sired. Whatever may be the defects of
the law authorizing the three county CON-
to delineate the natural oyster
deposits III their own county, IL cannot be
denied that u is in the line of the popular
theory of local self-goyernment.
MORE THAN JUSTIFIED.
The writer believes that in some of the
counties surveyed by him the natural Oys-
ter-beds have been designated as more ex-
than the conditions of the bottoms
justified. In other counties he believes
that the bottoms designated as natural
deposits were correctly DESIGNATED.
The citizens of each county. through their
commissioners. must determine
this matter for themselves. Judging by
5he conditions which prevail in States like
Connecticut and New YORK, ii will prove a
to the people of that county in
bottoms designated BIZ their three
county commissioner as natural rock are
not natural rock. Bottoms with only
small patches Of oysters upon them which
for the previous ten years been SO
barren of natural oyster deposits as not TO
have been proftably worked by citizens as
common property should be utilized and
planted. This has been the rule in those
States which have been most successful In
developing their oyster interests. Natu-
raj oyster-beds do not, as a rule. extend
themselves by natural means along inhab-
tied shores. Certainly those of Chesapeake
Bay have not so extended themselves OF
late years.
EXPENSE SMALL.
As to the cost to the State of Virginia of
the survey that is now in progress. thanks
70 the valuable data furnished by the
States Commissioner of Fish and
Fisheries and to the material assistance
the United States COMMISSIONS OF
and Fisheries and the United States
Coast and Geodetic Survey have rendered
and are rendering to the State IN the
survey ~ being executed OF a
cost TO the taxpayers of
State compared with other sur
veys of like nature. One not familiar with
uch work can form no estimate OF the Ia
,or involved in surveying and mapping
ixte water areas. This survey is nov
we'll advanced and can be completed, with
perhaps tue exception OF the Atlantic side
u Aeoemac and Northampton counties. at
. small cost. The 5000 appropriated by
the last Legislature Is not vet exhausted.
But for the valuable assistance the State
has received this could not have been ac-
A INEQUALITIES.
The writer has written and published q
series of articles on the oyster question.
His motive in doing so has been TO arouse
interest IN this important matter.
In none of the articles published has he
stated what amount of revenue he thought
Virginia should derive from her oyster IN
although he has had occasion 10
point out that great inequalities exist in
Virginia in regard to taxes-jnequalitIes
that should be righted. 1t is for the
Legislature 10 determine first what rental
be demanded for unoccupied
oyster-bottoms 20 be used in the
Of shell-ish. and to decide
What taxes should be imposed upon those
who gather oysters from natural beds to
protect these beds. The laws IN other
states differ greatly. Connecticut has
adopted an extremely liberal policy to-
wards its oyster-planters. Ii has granted