1H3) 
alone had the fishery, the fjord was so well investigated that where the oysters 
were and were not found became very well known, and the latter at the end of 
the period was chiefly the case in the 3rd and Sth divisions and at various places 
here and there. At the very end of the time oysters appeared in the neighbour- 
hood of Fuur, whilst in the northern part of Livø Bredning and in practically the 
whole of the 4th division no oysters were found. Although the oyster fisheries, 
when the contracts were made in 1861, were known and had been carried on in 
the fjord for the 10 years previously, and although the contracts were then no 
longer made privately but by public auction, yet the importance of the fisheries 
was so little regarded by the people around that the whole fisheries in the 4 
-divisions named were let out for a sum of ca. 900 Rd. yearly, which was con- 
sidered sufficient as matters stood, when no one would give anything for the fu- 
ture uncertainty. The results of the first years showed also, that the thing was 
of no great pecuniary importance, as the amount earned was then only so large 
that we could carry on the business without being the object of envy. The Govern- 
ment also recognised that the fisheries had at that time no very great importance; 
but it had a right perception that they might possibly be helped forward in a 
quicker manner and on a larger scale, if the lessees could be interested in the 
matter, and this was reached by the Government, in the conditions, not imposing 
as a duty on the lessees the making of certain arrangements but offering them a 
distinct advantage on the expiry of the contract if they did so of their own accord. 
As examples of. arrangements considered expedient by the Government were named, 
the laying down of. oyster parks and artificial oyster banks, but it was added in 
general »or other arrangements advantageous to the advancement of the fisheries«. 
It was imposed upon the lessees however, that if they should make any such 
measures, they should make an annual report to the Government regarding what 
had been done and lastly the following promise was made to them in the condi- 
tions: »In so far as the lessee at the end of his contract can show that he has 
laid down oyster parks, artificial oyster banks or made other arrangements of ad- 
vantage to the fishery, which might be considered as contributing towards the 
receipt of a higher rent during the next contract, he is entitled to a half portion 
of what the rent amounts to over what he himself has given, either paid out as 
one sum or in a reduction of the rent if he himself should remain the lessee.« 
»Where the oysters originally came from cannot possibly be determined 
with certainty, but it is clear that they only arrived there after 1825; and if no 
weight is laid upon the fact, that a private person was induced by the then 
Amtmand Faye to introduce a lot of oysters in the thirties, which were laid down 
in Nissum Bredning in the neighbourhood of his house, then there is hardly any 
other probable cause for their occurrence than that the spat were carried in from 
the North Sea through Agger Channel into the fjord. That the oysters have no 
movement of their own need not be mentioned; but every one can gather there- 
from that their occurrence and distribution must be due to currents in the water, 
which carry on the young until they can find a place where they can fix them- 
selves and which contains the conditions for their further development. That the 
oysters do not require many years to grow up seems to be a fact; but it seems 
also true that they require many years to spread themselves over a large extent 
” 
[3] 
