Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 20.djvu/165

Rh 1. By the general appearance and condition of the beds and animals, the former being broken up with mud and sand among the shells, and but little healthy, growing sponge; the oysters will be large and single, the shells covered with worms, and much broken and bored in many places. Very few barnacles will be found, and the general appearance of the shells will be one of decay. 2. The ratio of "young" to "mature" oysters will be abnormally large or small; should it be greater than as two to one, or less than as one to one, it may, until we have more information on the subject, be considered abnormal. 3. The amount of débris in the bed will be very large, and, should it exceed fifty per cent, of the contents of the dredges, it would be unusually large. 4. The number of oysters on the beds will be found to decrease each year, though slight improvements may from time to time occur. 5. The discovery of unusual inhabitants of the beds, other than the oysters, or the disappearance of those usually found, or, in general terms, marked changes of the fauna of the beds, are an indication of deterioration.

If a bed or any number of beds present these peculiarities, in order to prevent their entire destruction it will be necessary to insure the animals some adequate protection. The best remedy for any evil is the removal of the cause; and, should the deterioration of the beds be due to excessive fishery, the prohibition of such fishery would be the readiest and most certain means of arresting the deterioration: but, as a large number of the poorer class of people is dependent, in one way or another, upon the beds, or the oyster industry, for support, it would be impossible to prohibit all fishing of any extensive area without causing great distress, and the working of the beds can consequently be only restricted and not prohibited.

As the number of dredging-vessels employed directly in the fishery is, for a time at least, constant, it follows that, the larger the area open to these workers, the less exhaustive will be the fishery of any particular locality, for the fishermen will naturally seek the most productive fields for labor, and leave old and worn-out beds for those newly discovered and well stocked. Therefore, one of the best means of affording protection to the overworked beds is the discovery of new ones, as thus without prohibitory laws the fishery will be transferred from the former to the latter. Fortunately, the area covered by oysters along the coast of the United States is so great that at present, when any bed or locality ceases to give an adequate return, the fishery is transferred to other points—as, for instance, those vessels accustomed to work in Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds have left that locality for the Potomac River and the beds in the Chesapeake bay.

In time, however, the areas covered by oysters will be known, and all future extension of the fishing-ground must be an artificial one of those known areas.

In searching for new beds they will probably be found off the