52 JOUKISTAL OF THE MiTCIIELL SoCIETY \_Octoher 



State but througliout the country, and slie lias made them 

 abundant so that she can supply the greatest demand that may 

 arise for them. I have used the words "made them abundant" 

 advisedly, inasmuch as the results accomplished have been due 

 to the actual work of man in the cultivation and planting of 

 the oyster as well as assisting by adequate statutes the growth 

 and reproduction of the oyster on the natural rock. The oyster 

 industry is on a paying basis, and each year is enabled to pay 

 into the General Treasury of the State a very satisfactory fund, 

 after all exj^enses have been met. This could only have been 

 accomplished as a state-wide measure. 



Man himself is one of the most imiwrtant factors in decreas- 

 ing the supply of oysters and other shellfish in the waters of 

 the several states, due largely to his selfish interest and to his 

 idea that anything that comes out of the sea is his by a God- 

 given right, and that the State has no authority over it whatever. 

 Many of the natural oyster rocks or reefs may have been par- 

 tially or wholly destroyed by becoming muddied or sanded, due 

 to very severe storms, thus smothering the oysters ; or the beds 

 may have been destroyed by some parasite; or, because of the 

 certain changes of the coast line, waters may have become too 

 fresh; and thus the natural rocks have been destroyed. I^ot- 

 withstanding the fact that these causes may account for the 

 destruction of many natural rocks, it is undoubtedly true that 

 the most important influence is the one that has to do with the 

 actual taking of the oysters themselves. This is especially true 

 of the lobster, which in many sections has been almost entirely 

 exterminated by overfishing. The oyster and the clam have 

 practically no chance whatever to protect themselves or to 

 escape their worst enemy, man; but, though an enemy, it is 

 also through the efforts of man that the destruction wrought 

 in many places must be and has been remedied. If it had not 

 been for the conservationist or perhaps I might say in connec- 

 tion with the oyster industry, the man who appreciated the 

 oyster as a delicious food, realizing that unless some steps wer-j 

 taken by the State or ISTational governments to protect it and 

 prevent over-oystering of the natural rocks, the oyster would 

 be exterminated ; we would be today in many, if not all of the 



