OYSTER CULTURE IN AMERICA. 761 



Europe, where a few guard boats are enough to protect the 

 beds, and to learn how many oysters are taken from each 

 one. 



If all our oyster area were divided up into 

 private holdings, the whole could be watched, and its con- 

 dition and capacity much more carefully and exactly ascer- 

 tained, than can ever be the case under State management, 

 and an enlightened system of private cultivation would be 

 the most sure safeguard against the exhaustion of the beds. 



. As it is impossible to state, at present, how 

 long it will take for any particular bed to become restored, 

 we recommend that certain areas be closed for an indefi- 

 nite time, and that no one be allowed to take oysters 

 within these areas until examination shows that they are 



sufficiently restored if the whole of the closed 



area were in one place, the residents of the lands bordering 

 upon it would be unfairly treated, as they would be com- 

 pelled to go to a great distance for their oysters. 



We therefore recommend that .... our waters 

 be divided into two areas : " A Shore Oyster Fishery," . 

 . . and a " Deep Water Oyster Fishery," . . . that 

 no dredging be permitted within the " Shore Oyster 

 Fishery," but that this be reserved for tongmen and 

 planters exclusively, although we recommend that a 

 licensed tongman be also allowed to take oysters on any 

 grounds where dredging is permitted. We also recom- 

 mend that one-third of the total area of the "Deep Water 

 Oyster Fishery " be absolutely closed to the public for an 

 unspecified time, and that this closed third be divided into 

 five narrow belts across the bay, separated from each other 

 by wider belts, where dredging shall be permitted as at 

 present. 



