Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1907-01-31
MEET BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Special Session Of ShelIflsh Commission.
The Natural Oyster Bed Prob
lem Discussed.

The Sheilfish Commissioners met in
special session yesterday morning and
afternoon. The sessions were behind
closed doors and were devoted 10 a
further consideration of the subject of
deciding upon working definition
of natural oyster beds for the pur-
pose of drawing the line between the
bottoms which are the subiec of
leasing for oyster culture and those
that are not.
The matter is of pressing importance,
inasmuch as the waters contiguous too
Anne Arundel county have been COM
pletely surveyed, and the oyster cnl-
ture act requires that plat Of the
surveyed portions, with the divisional
line between the natural beds and
barren bottoms. be filed in the Office
of the clerk of the court within ninety
days after the completion of the sur
yey.
Just after the completion of the sur
vey of the waters adjacent to Anne
Arundel county, il was announced
that over 81, ,000 acres of bottom had
been surveyed and that %, 900 acres of
this was clearly natural oyster
grounds. About 5000 acres and also a
number of small oyster beds, called
Jumps, - and difficult to measure eN-
actly, were not classed either as ma
tural beds or barren bottoms, await
ing the action of the Shelliish Com
misisoners in framing an accurate de-
finition of these terms.
The question over which several eX-
ecutive sessions have been held is the
fraIuing of this denfiition. The board
has not reached a fairly exact, out,
according to the statement of members
oG the board, not an absolute defini-
tion of natural bed. a barren bot
tom is, of course, all bottom not i'm
cluded in the natural beds. The
definition is primarily based upon the
decision of Judge Goldsborough in the
Circuit Court for Dorchester county
a number of years ago, which declares
natural oyster ground to be "A
place where persons habitually resort
for the purpose OF making n liveli-
hood by the taking of oysters. This
was also the definition in the origi-
nal Haman bill.
This definition has never received
the approval of the Court of Appeals,
but il is claimed il has been accepted
both by lawyers and practical oyster
men. With this rs a basis, il is un-
derstood that working definition
for the purpose of drawing the line
between natural beds and barren bot
toms has been framed, the elements
entering into il being mathematical
calculation based upon the number of
marketable oysters in certain areas
and the number that can be caught by
an oysterman taking oysters by the
different methods in vogue in the
State. BY this method the board ex-
poets TO reduce the matter to a math-
ematical certainty.
The reservation is made, however,
that the board has only adopted this
definition tentatively, and its practical
workings as applied to the grounds
surveyed will be the test of its contin
uance. The board is going on the
theory that the law was meant TO pro-
vide for oyster culture, and its effort s
have been directed to secure TO those
who propose to engage in this industry
bottoms upon which fair test of its
possibilities may be afforded, but at
the same time the oysterman engaged
in his work on the natural bars may
be protected. By the experience gain
ed on the cottoms contiguous to Anne
Arundel county it is hoped to amend
the definition, as found necessary,
until one can be framed that will ap-
ply with fairness TO all the waters of
the state, and at the same time in
sure to those who wish to engage in
oyster culture bottoms adapted to their
nurDoseS