Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1910-03-25
FISH AND OYSTEP NOTES.

Large catches of fish-shad and her.
ring-have been made in and neal
Great Wicomico this week. and on
Wednesday the trappers got as many
as they could handle.
Steps have been taken to secure a
fish factory for the use of ale wives for
oil and scrap at Chincoteague. The
catch of table fish there is increasing
annually and is an important industry.
A market for the refuse which the
factory will give should add much to the
fisherman's reward. Eastern Shore
Herald.
After five hours and half of hauling
and Juggling, the pilot boat Florida
towed into Sabine, Tex, 9O-foot. whale.
very much alive and protesting vigo-
rousiy. The monster stranded in about
two fathoms of water, and when sighted
was mistaken for a wrecked barge.
The pilot boat was dispatched to the
aid OF the supposed disabled craft.
1t is asserted that the abundance of
oysters in the Potomac for several
seasons has been due to the able polic-
ing of those waters. The tongers have
received as high as $1.05 per bushel
for stock and the dredgers as much as
60 cents per bushel. The culling pro-
cess by the dredger will insure a good
harvest next season.-The Oysterman.
The Maryland State Senate Commit.
tee on Chesapeake Bay and Tributaries
Tuesday morning settled a point in the
proposed Maryland oyster law amend.
ment, when it decided that it should be
left to the discretion of the ShellfisL
Commission to set aside certain bottoms
for taking small oysters, among them
the Potomac river above Cedar Point
and including Cedar Point bar.
North Cardinals State oyster Com
missioner says the oyster season has
been poor, both as to output and condi-
ton of the oysters, and that he cannot
account for small catch further than
to say that it has met the demands.
Only two canneries have been in opera-
tion, one at Beaufort the other at Wit.
and these have been able to get about
all the oysters they could handle.
It's an i'll wind that blows nobody
good, The recent order of the u. S.
Pure Food Commission that oysters
which had been put in fresh water to
drink, or fatten, are adulterated.
and thus are ruled out of interstate
commerce, is not an unmixed evil to
Virginia oystermen. 1t should put our
products-w which do not have to be
'hoated"-ahead on the market. that
is If the government order is enforced.
The State Commission of Fisheries
has presented the State with a balance
of $l5, 900 in the Commissions hands on
March 1st. 1910. as a result of the
supervision of the fish and oyster inter-
ests and industries of Virginia. If the
fish business were required by law to
make the same proportionate return to
the State as the oyster business is re-
quired TO make. the revenue would be
probably 80 per cent more.-Norfolk
Landmark.
A committee of the North Carolina
Legislature will look into fisheries con-
ditions on the Carolina coast, and re-
port to the next General Assembly some
comprehensive and adequate statute
controlling the fishing interests and
avert contests that have harrassed the
Legislatures in the past. 1t will in
vestigate actual conditions in the fishing
camps, types of nets used, and get the
views of individual fishermen. In the
party will be Speaker A. w. Graham,
other members of the Legislature, DIR.
Joseph Hyde Pratt. State geologist.
and DR.. H. F. Moore, of the u. S.
Fisheries Department.