The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1901-02-27
JERSEYS OYSTER WARS
Report Made to the Leg
islature a Decidedly
Tart Affair.
Especial to "rhe Jersey city News."1

Especial to The Jersey City News
TRENTON, Feb. 27, 19O1.-The most tart
official document ever presented to the
new Jersey Legislature is the second an
nual report of the State Oyster Commits
sion The men who have fallen into the
habit of taking plant oysters are re-
ferred to as thieves" robbers" ;"
crooks and dishonest men, There Is
no vanishing of words or conditions by
the 4 G Commissioners, Messrs. E. L. Riley,
E; Sites, Jr., and jeremiah n. Ogden,
who are all practical oyStermen.
From time immemorial the oyster wars
of New Jersey have been feature of life
around Maurice River Cove, Delaware
Bay, and it is safe estimate to place
the loss of life during twenty or thirty
OF these wars at twenty-five, while the
number wounded in the affrays has never
been definitely known. Troops have been
called out to quell the fights of the armed
oystermen in years past and a miniature
gunboat manned by rifiemen has patrolled
the bay and cove for years. The old Oy-
stermen's Association attempted, under a
statute, to police the oyster fields but
they We're only partially successful, and
when they saw that the natural oyster
bed or bottom of the bay was gradually
being destroyed they took it upon them
selves to secure legislation that would
give their association absolute control of
State riparian lands and practically all
the natural oyster bottoms of the COM
monwealth.
The lawmakers accepted the assoeia-
toms statement of existing conditions in
1899 and proceeded to remedy the trouble
and to put stop to the oyster wars, but
instead of placing the control of the stu
alton in the hands of the Oysternen's As
sociation the Legislature appointed the
present Commission to manage things and
to survey, stake off and number the oys-
ter grounds allotted to each oyster plan
ter. The association at once used its
n 1 Ioo
into effect of the laws
There have been many who, for the
subscribing of their own interest, have
sought to attack the law saws the re-
port, especially those who have always
been looked upon as pilferers and poach-
ers and the friends of the old regime
that IS, the members of the old OYSTER
mems Association. So far was this feel
rests were made and prosecutions insti-
tuted for violations of this act. the old
Oystermen's Association and its friends
and counsel were invariably found giving
aid and counsel to the accused party"
One of the most important provisions in
oyster legislation was the passage of what
is known as the trough cull'' law. The
oyster is propagated by means of what is
known as oyster spat, which is the egg
of the oyster and which, when discharg-
ed from the oyster in its first state, float
freely and is carried in all directions in
the waters of the bay and cove, and in a
very short time is Matched into embryo
oysters. These millions of embryos must
find clean and rough surface to which
thew can adhere in order to get beyond
the embryonic stage.
Such lodging places are found on shells
and stones that are found on what are
called natural beds. If such suitable
lodging places are found the embryo oy-
ster at once fastens itself to it and
commences to grow a shell. This is done
in a wonderfully short time, the growth
of an oyster in the first three months of
it's life being simply marvellous. If a
stances, the embryo, not finding any suit
able place to attach. soon dies. This is
perhaps Fortunate says the report,
for, since each oyster is capable of pro-
ducing from one to two millions of young,
if they could all find places to go and
could procure food to keep them grow
ing, Delaware Bay would in few years
be filled up with oyster rock.
The immense fecundity of the oyster is
we'll shown by an old she'll about four
inches by two and half inches, in pos
session of the superintendent, on which
there are by careful count, 467 young oys-
ters. OF course, the large majority of
these would die from crowding, and prob
ably not more than ten or twelve would
reach the size of seed plants.
THE natural beds, under absence of
law were constantly dredged over and
everything suitable for lodging places was
the oysterman to take his whole catch on
board and carry it to his planting
ground than it was to Gull out the oysters
and leave the residuum on the ground.
The result of this was that each year
the Young growth of the natural beds
became less and less until their absolute
exhaustion was seriously threatened"