Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1906-06-01
FISH and OYSTER NOTES


A resident of New York has been
eating the eggs of seagulls as brain
food at 20 cents each. He gets them
on Long Island.
Hanson L. Crockett, jr., caught Is
dozen fiddlers on Tangier Island, for
which he got half cent apiece. These
are the first fiddlers we ever heard of
being marketed.
During the past few years certain
manufacturers in the North have sent
circulars to fishermen in this State Of
fering one dollar per pound for fish
scales. They are used in manufacture
of buttons. AS one pound would fill
half a peck measure, no one, so far,
has deemed the business profitable
enough to embark in it.
The case of the menhaden fishing
controversy was listened to by Della
ware commissioners recently in the
Levy court room. Walter +. Hath
away, secretary of the American Fish
cries Co., and Attorney r. Pennington,
appeared before Alexander B. Cooper
and Walter II. Hayes, of the Delaware
Fish Commission. Mr.. Hathaway OPP
posed the prohibitive laws in favor of
restricting the menhaden fishing and
presented actual facts of the industry
as well as figures showing that such a
course against the menhaden fishing in
dustry was not warranted. President
Cooper, of the joint commission, and
Mr.. Hayes indicated their desire at the
close of the hearing to pay visit to
the menhaden factories of the Ameri-
can Fisheries Company and to visit the
fleet while in operation at some time in
the near future. Fishing Gazette.
For years the Chesapeake Bay and
South Atlantic waters have been drawn
upon for seed oysters for Northern
beds. The result has been that Con-
necticut, Delaware, New Jersey and
other Northern States have stocked
their grounds so abundantly that they
have become marketers of seed. A
new demand for seed has arisen. Rapid
transit across the continent has opened
a business with the Pacific coast, where
the native oyster at maturity is very
small. A dispatch from the State of
Washington says several car loads of
Eastern seed oysters are soon to ar
rive there within the next few DAYS.
The seed of eastern oysters must be
propagated in the Atlantic waters
though they can be readily grown
there. To grow to maturity requires
from two to three years, and it will be
that time before marketing can take
place. South Bend, Ind, reports the
arrival of 81 car loads of eastern seed
oysters for planting in Willapa Harbor,
Washington, and about 80 more are
expected.
Another thing which the General AS
sembly failed to do in the rush of the
sixty-day whirl has just developed, and
that is that there was no appropriation
made for the employment of surveyor
to re-estabiish certain oyster lines.
which it is charged, have become badly
mixedpp. The original lines were estab-
hshed by Engineer Baylor, who has in
later years sprung into Statewide
fame on account of the we'll known
Baylor Survey, which certain oyster
bills for the past ten years have been
endeavoring to break up. This survey
was considered official" and oyster
lands have been bought and sold, traded
and transferred in every conceivable
way under the established lines of the
Baylor survey which were accepted
just as much as rights to oyster bot
toms as the records in the various
county clerks Offices are regarded as
proof of a clear title to real estate. A
subsequent survey was made by Major
Edward A Semple, of this city, and
lines were established and confirmed
identical with the lines of the BAYLOR
survey. Then, it is asserted, that
trouble arose. 1t was stated today
that another survey was made. Incom-
potency of the engineer is not charged.
but one thing appears to be certain and
that is the oyster lines are now in a
terrible mix-up. 1t is estimated that