22 PROTECTION OF FRESH-WATER MUSSELS. 



would be incurred by violations. It is desirable also that the gov- 

 ernor, upon recommendation of the commission, should have power 

 to reopen the closed regions when such action was judged necessary. 



ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAW. 



Powers of officers. — It is necessary not only that the duty of en- 

 forcement of the law be assigned to specified State officers, but also 

 that they be expressly given the right to inspect and examine mussels 

 or shells in the boats or on land and be empowered to seize mussels or 

 shells held in violation of the law. It is practically impossible to 

 bring about convictions when the opportunity is allowed for destruc- 

 tion of the evidence between the time of detection and the date of trial. 



Permits for special cases. — In cases where for the purposes of in- 

 vestigations it may be necessary to take small mussels, the State 

 officers charged with the enforcement of the law should have by law 

 the right to issue special permits for the taking of undersized mussels 

 for scientific uses and not for sale. 



Expenses of mussel protection. — The plans which have been ad- 

 vanced in this report can be carried out with a minimum of expense. 

 The simplicity of the measures would reduce the trouble and cost of 

 inspection to the smallest practicable figure. The assignment of the 

 duties of enforcement to existing State commissions or boards which 

 already have field deputies or wardens obviates the creation of any 

 special offices for execution of the mussel laws. 



The question of whether steps should be taken to raise special funds 

 on account of the additional burdens that would be placed upon the 

 present boards is one that would be determined by each State in the 

 light of its own conditions and established customs. It would be 

 very undesirable to create a burdensome tax; to do so would only 

 react against the State, and in the end the tax would be paid by the 

 shellers, who are now making only a meager living, for the local 

 shellers would have to sell in competition with the shellers from 

 States where more liberal conditions prevail. 



It is another matter, however, to require a nominal license fee for 

 the privilege of working upon the public mussel beds. Such a fee 

 need not be greater than $1 or $2 per season, an amount which could 

 be paid by anyone who wished to shell seriously. Perhaps the idea 

 of a fee of any kind would arouse some antagonism among a certain 

 class of shellers who would enjoy the public stores without return of 

 any kind. Some shellers favor such a license system, and the writer 

 believes that they must all eventually come to see that it works to 

 their own particular advantage in many ways. It tends to create a 

 class of professional shellers, besides providing the necessary means 

 for promoting the abundance of shells. 



