1 88 THE OYSTER. 



were substituted in 1880, forbids the taking of oysters 

 during the closed season, except for private use, or 

 for the purpose of replanting, or for sale to the citizens 

 of the county next adjoining. It is, therefore, prob- 

 able that the framers of the present law wished to per- 

 mit by it the taking "between April 15th and September 

 1st of oysters to be sold to residents of the neighbor- 

 hood for food, or to citizens of the county for planting, 

 and also to permit the taking of five bushels a day 'for 

 private use. 



It will be seen by examination that almost the only 

 thing which these laws have in common is the prohi- 

 bition of oyster-fishing in the summer months, and to 

 this there are exceptions, as some of the Rhode Island 

 beds are open only in the summer, while those of Con- 

 necticut are open at all times. This provision, which 

 is borrowed from the laws for the protection of game, 

 is based upon the fact that this time is the spawning 

 season. Game birds soon desert a region where they 

 are disturbed in the breeding season, and as they lay 

 few eggs and care for their helpless young, the de- 

 struction of an old bird at this time may result in the 

 death of the whole brood. The provision of the game 

 law which forbids the capture of game during the 

 breeding season is therefore a wise one, but oysters 

 are very different from game birds. They discharge 

 vast numbers of eggs into the water, but they take no 

 care of their young, and while it is true that the re- 

 moval of too many mature oysters from a bed destroys 

 its productiveness, the time when they are removed is 

 a matter of no consequence, and overfishing in De- 

 cember is in this respect as bad as overfishing in May. 



