Bridgeton pioneer. (Bridgeton, N.J.) 1884-1919, 1909-09-02
THE OYSTER
A WILD ANIMAL,

oysters are classed with animals
fierce natural-of a wild nature-so
says the New International Enclyclo-
pedia, hence in a wild state may be
gathered by any one when they are To-
Gated on land under navigable water.
In England his oystership has been pro-
tected and his culture encouraged by
statutes ever since Richard II. In
deed, most of the oyster beds in water
contiguous to the British Isles are now
| or have been possessed by special
growths from the crown or by lease
from royal commissioners under the
laws of England. No one can appro.
pirate to himself for exclusive use land
under the public waters for the pur-
pose of establishing an oyster bed, but
after gaining the right by grant or
lease in person has no absolute owner
ship in the oysters he plants or deposits
| in the space thus allotted to him, and
appropriations of them by another in
such case is punishable as misde-
meanor. In the United States general
ly, after wild oysters are gathered and
| planted i. e., placed in another
location for the purpose Of propagation.
they remain the property of the person
who has thus reclaimed-or tanned
them-even though he plants on ground
under public waters. This rule allows
in the several oyster producing States,
even in the absence of statutory provi.
sions the regulating the industry es-
pecially in giving notice to the public
where a person appropriates under
public waters for an oyster bed, as
we'll as establishing CLOSED" season.
Therefore in most States any one has
a right to pre- empt an unoccupied area
under waters and establish thereon an
oyster bed. Now such bed once es-
tabished as long as it is maintained
the law protects the owner. as a per-
son planting the bed is called, In his
property right in oysters, and in his
possession of the area which his bed
covers. The owner of an oyster bed is
not only entitled to the oysters which
the plants, in order to allow them to
mature, but also to all the offspring
from those oysters within the limits
of his bed The statute usually re-
quires one who claims an oyster bed to
stake it off by means of long poles i'm
bedded in the mud at the bottom and
extending above the surface of the
water. This is for the purpose of Civ.
ing notice to the general public and
avoiding an innocent invasion of the
owners rights. A person cannot &C.
quire property right to bed of oysters
by planting young oysters in natural
bed of already containing oysters in
sufficient quantities to make it profit
able for the public to gather them. If
person thus mingles his oyters with
others which the public may gather he
loses all separate property right in
them, and only gathers them as citi
zens Of the State. Natural oyster beds
are defined to be those that are to be
found growing in sufficient quantities
to be valuable to the public. When nc
definite period for the enjoyment OF
the privileges Of oyster beds is fixed,
by statute, the right to use the public
land under water for such purpose is
construed to be conditional or qualified,
which is personal in its nature, and
not an inheritance or transferable, and
the State in which the beds are stu
sted may at any time revoke the Ii.
cense and demand back the possession
of the submerged land, giving the
owner Of the oysters reasonable time
in which to remove them This right
of the State will not ordinarily be exer-
cised and as the owner of the oysters
: may dispose of them in any way he
sees fit, and as they go to his repre-
sentatives in his death, it is often pop
ularly supposed that the possession OF
submerged bed itself is property right
in the person said to ''own' it. The
occupation Of an oyster bed by an in
dividual does not interfere with the
rights of the public to fish in the
waters of above that bed. Statutes Of
a State prohibiting citizens of other
States from taking oysters or locating
beds on lands under navigable waters
have been held to be constitutional.
Any person taking oysters from a
private bed without permit is guilty
Of larceny. -