Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1908-01-10
REPORT OF BOARD
OF FISHERIES.
Exhaustive Paper by the State
Board on the Fish and Oyster
Industries in VIRGINIA.
Aside from in terest in the Financial
End, the Document cuts deeply
into our Ways of Treating

this Vast Proposition
The annual report of the State Board
of Fisheries made to the Governor and
the General Assembly October 1st, last,
was just yesterday gotten from the
printer. This. the tenth, report is the
first to go deeply into the various phases
of the fishing and oystering industries
of the Chesapeake, and will be found in
teresting to all Tidewater people. 1t is
of 81 pages printed matter and with 20
illustrations of our water life. 1850
copies were printed, to supply State
officials, courts and inspectors and suf-
ficient to be disseminated among those
private individuals wanting them. A
copy can be procured by anyone send
ing cents postage to the chairman, at
Irvington.
The chief topics treated of in the re-
port follow:
Receipts for the year, 500, 9S2. Sc; Elk
penditures, S33, 171.O1. Net cash profit to
the State. 500, 81. 55-or three dollars
for one. Increase in receipts over last
year, $25, 358.7 8. In the ten years, dur
ing the existence of board of fisheries,
the State has realized direct net rev.
enue of about four hundred thousand
dollars.
An appeal for larger appropriation
and for fewer and more effective laws.
(The Board will recommend in supple
mentary form the changes in the laws
it desires.)
A contrast drawn between our States
management of its water industries and
those States north of us as well as
south of us-showing our natural ad-
vantages to be greater but in most re-
spects our policies to be the weaker.
The natural rocks under rigid policing
are recuperating, but both planting and
longing interests, as well as fish, crabs
and CLAIMS need attention and legislation.
The ocean side, James river and Poto-
moe river, particularly, call for imme-
date legislation.
The boats-steam, sail and gasoline
of the police fleet have been doing good
work, but more are needed. Including
the seaside counties, they have, with
the Inspector force, thirty five hundred
square miles of tidal waters to patrol
equal, by-the-way, to strip more than
a mile wide extending from Maine to
California. Virginia's producing water
bottoms exceed any in the United States.
A comparison with Maryland shows our
fleet the smaller, fisheries expenditures
less than one-half and receipts more
than double.
The Board has never been able to rent
an office, for lack of funds, as required
to do by law, and its collections and
specimens are lily cared for. Louisiana,
while not yet in advance of Virginia,
carried off the prizes for oysters at the
jamestown Exposition because the Vir-
ginia Board had no funds wherewith to
make an exhibit.
The Chesapeake Bay and seaside
oyster is shown to be in demand because
entirely healthful, no pollution pouring
into our waters. Enemies to the oyster
are not found here in abundance as
elsewhere. The Chesapeake stands in
a class to itself.
Vigilance of the police have driven
many lawless wokers from the rocks,
but gasoline boats are giving much
trouble because of easy escape. The
season for longing is recommended to
be from October 1 to April /. The
season for dredging from January 1 to
June l. The shiftless negro longer who
resides here only during the oyster
season, and then goes north, should be
kept off the public rocks.
The zig-zag Baylor lines in the James
river should be made straighter, for
better policing. The Baylor lines should
be re-run by piece-meal and perman-
emily marked. Some bottoms in Mob
jack bay and on the seaside should be let
out for seed purposes. Unless seed can
be procured more readily than now
many interests will suffer. A "seed
line" as in the James, should be
established in the Potomac. Scrapes,
and not dredges, should be permitted
in that river.
The shocking, or opening, of oysters
has grown tremendously, but is just
now at standstill because of INSULT
Gent laws in regard to seed and plants
Grabbing should not be restricted, but
should pay good tax. CLANS should
be culled, and alsoa tax for their taking.
Both of these industries have grown
rapidly.
A Gull law should be required for fish
ing. The small fish, or trash fish,"
should be thrown back alive. Heavy
penalties should be provided for undue
destruction of food fish. The menhaden
fisheries, or fertilizer works, represent
a million and a quarter of dollars, invest
ment, with an annual output of nearly
a million dollars. The pound-net fish
cries are just as great.
Among the relief measures, the
Board will advise that the white longer
be granted grounds for depositing his
catch so as not to be forced into cheap
markets, and that the tax on planted
oysters and shells be abolished and
tax on sales substituted.
Besides beieg profusely illustrated
number of tables appear in the report,
showing that 50,OOOpersons are actively
engaged in thefsh and oysterindustries.
the revenues by counties, and itemized
returns of the fifty inspectors. In all,
the people of VIRGINIA derive noun ba