6 OYSTER CULTURE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 



and almost equaled the yield from all sources in 1902, when the first 

 comprehensive oyster law was enacted. 



The increase in the area of bottoms under leasehold since the en- 

 actment of the present laws has been astonishing. The exact area 

 of the leased bottoms of the state at the time of the investigation of 

 1898 can not be stated, but in Terrebonne Parish there were then on 

 record 32 leases, aggregating about 160 acres. Ten years later, 

 March, 1908, after the new laws had been in force but six years, 

 there were operative in that parish 411 leases, aggregating 5,803 

 acres. In 1898 the state derived from its oyster lands in Terrebonne 

 Parish not over $80, and the parish not exceeding an equal amount. 

 In 1908 the gross income of the state from the same waters was 

 about $8,900. 



From 1885 to 1902, under the parish administration of the oyster 

 fishery, but 521 leases, covering 2,820 acres, had been executed in the 

 entire state and many of them had lapsed at the latter date. In 

 March, 1908, there were in the state 1,692 effective leases, covering 

 22,135 acres of bottom. 



It is interesting to observe that although the state permits one 

 person or corporation to lease a maximum of 1,000 acres, the average 

 leasehold at the joresent time is but 13 acres. There is apparently no 

 tendency to " acquire a monopoly," which is so much feared by 

 opponents of oyster culture, and while several leases of from 500 to 

 1,000 acres have been granted, most of the holdings are in 10-acre 

 parcels leased mainly by persons formerly working on the natural 

 beds. 



There is no doubt that the average size of the leased beds will in- 

 crease. The oyster-planting industry of the state is as yet, in large 

 measure, in the more primitive stage. Seed oysters from the natural 

 beds are laid down for a year or less and a small acreage suffices for 

 a considerable product. The inevitable necessity of changing this 

 method to that of planting cultch is beginning to make itself felt, 

 and as under the latter system the oysters will probably be left at 

 least tw^o years on the bottom the requirement of larger holdings will 

 assert itself. 



If the oyster industry of the state is to continue to expand in the 

 future as in the past, the sooner this change in methods of culture 

 is established the better for all concerned. Carrying the oysters 

 from crowded natural reefs and bedding them for a few months on 

 private grounds where the conditions are better produces a superior 

 oyster and undoubtedly saves many that would die in the struggle 

 for existence under natural conditions. In that way, properly con- 

 ducted, transplanting increases both the volume and the value of the 

 oyster product, but the area of the natural beds is fixed as to its 

 maximum, and their ultimate productive capacity is correspondingly 



