THE COAST FISHERIES OF TEXAS. 419 



THE OYSTER LA"W OF TEXAS. 



The oyster law at present operative in this State, and to which 

 reference has been made in the foregoing text, is as foHows : 



An act for the preservation of oysters and oyster beds, and for protecting tlie rights of persons to the 

 same, and affixing penalties, and providing locations for planting oysters. (Laws of 1891, chap- 

 ter 98.) 



Be it enacted by the Jeghlattirc of the State of Texas, That oyster ])ed.s shall bo pub- 

 lic and private ; all those not designated as private, shall be public ; all natural 

 oyster beds and oyster reefs shall be deemed public. No person shall take or catch 

 oysters from any ftublic beds for market or sale or planting from the first day of 

 May to the first day of September in any year. Any person oft'ending against the 

 provisions of this section shall bo deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and ujion con- 

 viction thereof shall be fined for each offense not less than ten nor more than fifty 

 dollars. 



2. When oysters are culled or selected from public beds, those not wanted for 

 market or sale or for family use, shall be plante<l while alive, by the person or persons 

 taking them, on the beds from which they were taken, or some other bed, public or 

 private, and any person violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of 

 a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be fined for each offense not less 

 than ten dollars nor more than fifty dollars. 



3. Where any creek, bayou, lake, or cove, not made a navigable stream by the 

 laws of this State or of the United States, runs through the lauds of any person, such 

 person or other lawful occupant shall have the exclusive right to use said creek, 

 bayou, lake, or cove for gathering, planting, or sowing oysters within the metes and 

 bounds of the original grant or patent of said land; but if said creek, bayou, lake, 

 or cove is not included in the survey of said lands, then the exclusive rights of tlie 

 riparian owner shall extend to the miudle of said creek, bayou, lake, or cove. 



4. Any person who is an actual bona fide citizen of the State of Texas shall have 

 the right of obtaining a location for planting oysters and making private oyster 

 beds within any public navigable waters of this State, other than those mentioned 

 in section 3 of this act, by designating a square space not exceeding five hundred 

 aiul thirty-eight yards square, intended by him for such purpose, by not less than 

 four buoys anchored, or four stakes firmly and permanently planted, one at each 

 corner of such location, and by establishing posted notices of the same on one or 

 more of said corner stakes or buoys ; said stakes shall project at least four feet above 

 ordinary tides and shall be not less than six inches in diameter if of wood or three 

 inches in diameter if of iron, and any person so locating as aforesaid shall be pro- 

 tected in his possession thereof against trespass thereon, in like manner as free 

 holders are protected in their rights for a term of fifteen years aftt^r filing with the 

 county clerk his notice of location: Provided, That no person shall have the right to 

 locate any of the public oyster beds or oyster reefs within the public navigal)lo 

 waters of this State under this act or under any pre-existing law. All oyster loca- 

 tions made under this act shall expire at the end of fifteen years from the date of 

 filing the notice of location with the county clerk, and said location shall then 

 revert to the State, as if the same had never been located: And provided further, That 

 no person shall locate any private oyster bed in the public navigable waters of 

 this State within one hundred yards of low-water mark of any shore without the 

 consent of the riparian owner, said owner only having that right, nor shall anyone 

 be permitted in any wise to interfere with navigation by inclosure of said oyster beds. 



5. At any time not exceeding sixty days after placing in position any one or more of 

 said corner posts or buoys upon one of which shall be jdaced the notice hereinbefore 

 required, the locator shall file, with the county clerk of the county in which his loca- 

 tion lies, a notice of his location. The same shall be a notice to whom it concerns that 

 the locator has on a certain date, naming it, located a private oyster bed on a 



