37 
either whether the closure has been of use to the large oysters; the people at 
least have gained no advantage thereby, and the amount received by the State is 
almost the same as when the closure was imposed. To this poor result the Ger- 
man import duty has naturally contributed as we were thus excluded from com- 
petition, having no counteracting duty, and a considerable quantity of cheap young 
foreign oysters are now imported. Denmark should at least endeavour to supply 
itself with oysters, rather than let them perish in the Lim Fjord; even if it is 
impossible to say how much the fjord can continue to give in the year it is my 
belief based on personal observation that it can give much more than it now does, 
and endeavours should therefore be directed in future to fish up more oysters 
than is now done. This is not the place to discuss in detail how this should be 
arranged, but the points of view which form the hasis for the present contracts 
are wrong. The main thing muat be to get as many oysters taken as the fjord 
will at all allow, without any regard for the price they obtain per oysters; in this 
way both the public and the State will be best served. The fjord is too large to 
be merely the basis of a small business for some relatively few private persons 
and fishermen. 
If I believe that I can see more clearly into these matters than those who 
have hitherto had to do with the administration of this matter, this is inded quite 
natural, as I have my earlier experience to build upon, also because more is now 
known of the biology of these animals than was known 10 years ago, but in great 
part also because I have been personally interested in this and related matters 
since 1883 and have obtained means from the State in order to study them in 
nature. It should be understood therefore that I do not lay it to any one's charge 
that we are so far behind in this matter; but it has been expensive both for the 
State and for the oyster-eating publie that careful biological investigations were 
not made here much earlier. It was only after my appointment as Adviser to the 
Department in 1905 that I became aware how much was to be done. It is certain 
that many years will yet go by before we learn to use rightly the valuable asset, 
which came to us when the Thyborøn canal was broken through and which the 
modern sand-dredgers annually contribute to ensure. 
It has often been maintained that oysters are only a luxury, and it did 
not matter whether they were dear or not; but in several other lands the oysters 
are no luxury and if they need not be here so much the greater advantage for 
us; the main thing is only, that the State must obtain more profit from a more 
intensive fishery and that all the oysters which could be produced should be 
brought upon the market, so that the price is determined accordingly; in this way 
also the public is best served. 
Since I have advised in the foregoing a more intensive fishing in the 
Lim Fjord, it might well be thought that artificial culture could be employed 
to help out or to support the production, as is done im most other lands. , 
All that has -been done in this regard in our country has come to nothing; I do 
not mean here the regulations for preservation of the stock or the 3 and 3!/, 
inches standard size and the like, but what has been done directly to increase the 
production, such as transplanting of oysters, laying down of oyster ponds etc.; 
these have all been without result at any rate at the present time. In my opinion 
