[S*".] FISHERIES OF THE UNITED STATES. 



I>rietary rights to particular areas are given beyond the right to 

 '•phiut" a limited number of oj'sters on bottoms adjoining land owned 

 by the planter and peace ofhcers and local authorities are charged 

 with execution of laws relating to the fisberj'. In a few States or 

 localities, licenses are required to be obtained for each fishing vessel 5 and 

 in one State, Maryland, a regular police force and tieet of vessels is main- 

 tained to support the law. These regulations are easily evaded, except 

 those relating to the steamers and pre-emption of ground. Naturally, 

 no one will put down oysters without being able to protect them; and 

 steamers are too readily detected to make their illegal employment 

 possible. In Connecticut and Rhode Island, the beds being virtually 

 private propertj', there is no restriction of the fishery, except that it shall 

 not be conducted at night. 



The character of the vessel or boat used, depends in a measnre upon 

 the means of the fisherman and the constancy of his employment. When 

 the beds are small and worked only at intervals, or where the oysterman 

 is i)oor, a small boat of any description is used. Dories have the prefer- 

 ence on the New England coast, and canoes in the Chesapeake Bay. 

 Sharpies are also used in Long Island Sound. If the beds are extensive, 

 famishing constant employment, or the oysterman is well to do, the size 

 and appointments of the fishing craft are much improved. The charac- 

 ter of the oyster ground, its location, and the laws governing the fishing, 

 also influence the tyi)e of vessel or boat used. Shoal- water beds, in shel- 

 tered localities, where dredging is not permitted, are usually fished from 

 small, open boats; as, for instance, the beds of Ehode Island, south shore 

 of Long Island, sea-coast of New Jersey, and Virginia waters. On the 

 other hand, beds lying in deeji water, in exposed positions, and where 

 dredging is allowed, are worked bj" larger craft of 10 to 40 tons, or 

 steamers; as is the case in Long Island Sound, Delaware and Chesa- 

 l)«?ake Bays. One of the foregoing conditions also decides the imple- 

 ment to be used; when permitted, it is the dredge — either the enormous 

 one employed by the steamers, the smaller toothed rake-dredge, or 

 smooth-scrape. When dredging is prohibited, the tongs, or nipi^ers, 

 with two handles, sometimes 30 feet long, are used. 



The dredges are usually worked by an apparatus termed a "winder." 

 Many forms of " winders " (a winch especially adapted for this purpose) 

 are employed, but the one exhibited is the best and has the latest im- 

 provements. It is so designed that if,.while reeling in, the dredge should 

 " hang," that is, become immovably fixed by some obstrnction on the bot- 

 tom, the drnm is at once automatically thrown out of gearing, and the 

 dredge-rope allowed to run out; the sudden and rapid reverse revolution 

 of the brakes, which has caused many serious accidents and considerable 

 loss of life, is thereby prevented. Small craft use a more simple and less 

 exi)ensive description of winch, and frequently haul in by hand, while 

 the steam dredgers have powerful machinery adapted for this special 

 pnri)ose. The number of men employed varies with the size of the craft; 



