Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1902-08-01
Friday. August L, 1902.
FISH AND OYSTER LAWS.


On March %, 1902, statute was
passed by the Legislature in relation
to fishing with purse and pound nets
In the waters on the eastern side of
the Chesapeake Bay, or in any rivers
of the State except the Piankatank.
At the beginning of the present ses-
sion the following bill, introduced
by Mr.. Cromwell, of Norfolk. was
railroaded through several readings
and came near being enacted into
law:
2OS3. 1t shall be unlawful for any
person TO fish with purse net or pound
net in any of the waters of this State. or
within one mile OF the mouth of any
river, except that the pound net may be
used in the Piankatank river. or to fish
with purse nets in creeks or within half
mile OF the shore of Chesapeake Bay
within the limits of Elizabeth CITY. Ac-
comac and Northampton counties, or to
set any pound, or to take fish by
means thereof, in any creek within the
counties OF Accomac and Northampton.
or In the Chesapeake Bay, between the
first day of May and the first day of
June in any year on the eastern side of
said Bay. And all acts and parts of acts
inconsistent with this act are hereby re-
pealed.
This act shall be in force from its pas-
sage, on the ground that il is an emer-
gency bill, for otherwise the fishing sea-
son OF the year nineteenhundred and two
would be ended before this act becomes
operative and many thousands of dol
lars would be sacrificed
The bill of last March related par
ticularly to the exclusion from the
rivers; the foregoing bill would have
been prohibitive throughout the eva
terso theState." 1t did not escape the
eye, however, of some of the friends
of the fishermen here, notably among
them Capt. George p. Squires. and
with the aid of Messrs. LeCato.
Lyell and Matthews, members of
the Legislature, and some Lancaster
gentlemen who were in Richmond at
the time, Mr.. Cromwell was induced
to withdraw his bill.
Another matter of great moment
TO oystermen-was sprung in the
House of Delegates about the same
time and caught the ear of the Lam
caster gentlemen. A bill by Mr..
Matthews to repeal the recent law
which opened the Baylor survey on
the Eastern Shore for planting pur-
poses was on its third reading when
Mr.. Jordan, of Frederick, intro.
duced as substitute a wide-open
bill to throw open the entire BAYLOR
survey and declare such natural
rocks as the Board of Fisheries
should deem proper as planting
ground to be leased out. There was
hustle and hustle among the Tide
water representatives and their
friends for few minutes. The sub
stitute of Mr.. Jordan was passed bv
a small margin. The Tidewater
people got Delegate Cardwell, of
Hanover, to make an appeal for its
reconsideration, which he did in elo-
quent terms. An aye and nay vote
was taken, and Mr.. Jordan's bill |
was reconsidered and later voted
down by small majority; where
upon that mountain gentleman
in vigorous terms announced that
he and his mountain friends would
shortly make fight for opening the
natural rocks to planting purposes,
and served warning on the Tidewater
people that they were going to push
them to the wall on this question.
On some of these points Senator
Kezell said that railroading such bills
through the Legislature was politi-
cal trick, but he practically justified
the means by the end to be secured.
From the foregoing incidents it is
very apparent that the fish and oys-
ter industries are trembling in the
balance, and what we at one time
thought settled is yet a football to
be kicked about by legislators and
still bone of contention between
Underwater and mountain delegates.