OYSTER PROPAGATION IN P.E.I. 61 
» SESSIONAL PAPER No. 38a 
THE LEGAL SIDE. 
Experience has shown but one successful way of developing oyster resources, and 
‘that is the encouragement of oyster farming. The introduction of oyster culture has 
always met with opposition from the public fishermen, and such opposition has had 
a degree of justification. Usually it has been so mingled with prejudice and short- 
sightedness, that the sympathy of the general public has been estranged. Theoretically, 
the best interests of the whole public require that the oyster industry should be 
conducted wholly by methods that have proved successful in private farming—letting 
private judgment manage business operations, rather than a code of regulations. 
Practically, however, the best course to follow is to recognize the existence of public 
beds, and public fishing rights. Such rights and beds should be carefully defined, 
and the boundaries of public beds marked in a clear and simple manner, even though 
some barren bottoms should be included. Only by extreme or radical measures can 
natural oyster beds be preserved. But where oyster culture is successful there is 
less necessity for conserving such beds. The public oystermen have endured a sur- 
prising amount of restrictive legislation, supposed to be as much for their interest as 
that of the public. Under our larger view of the oyster question, the fishermen might 
be given more freedom and influence in shaping the regulations for the use of the public 
beds. Restrictions should primarily have in view the protection and encouragement 
of oyster culture, in which the real public interests inheres. Efforts should be made 
to secure impartial justice for all. A mutual obligation rests on both fishermen and 
farmers, to respect each others’ rights. Those who wish to frame the wisest laws, 
seeking for harmonious co-operation between these conflicting interests, are advised 
to study the history of oyster legislation in as many states and countries as possible. 
There will be found a variety in details, resting on local conditions, and a similarity 
in general principles, resting on biological grounds. 
THE DECLINE IN THE CANADIAN OYSTER PRODUCTION. 
That oyster production in Canada, and particularly in Prince Edward Island, 
has steadily been decreasing is evident from statistics. See “Table showing the 
aggregate quantities of oysters caught in the Dominion since 1876, compiled from 
annual reports of the Department of Fisheries,” given on page 47 in the report of the 
Dominion Shellfish Fishery Commission, 1912-18. In this table we note a curious 
back-and-forth fluctuation from year to year; but if the entire series of years be 
divided into five-year periods, and the annual product be averaged for each five-year 
period, or semidecade, the annual catch in barrels is as follows :— 
Prince Proportion 
Periods. Years. New Nova Edward for P.E.I. 
Brunswick. Scotia. Island. |Per cent of 
whole. 
(CL) Remar diategetnaterts care ates tah ES ees 1876-1880 9,724 1,172 17,020 60 
(CAMS  Aatne cock - SE BAME ES th oRicnak Eire 1881-1885 12,765 1,652 34,644 70 
Ci eat Refem. seteh A aaa ea ee aameeene 1886-1890 20,426 2,049 36,379 60 
Ea eo tener et Rae Siete tere ee, 1891-1895 17,434 3,027 30,622 60 
(epee ameter ves ictats Shinn © eee op yspatalte ee 1896-1900 18,740 2,150 22,735 50 
(GYR SE ree ans Ce eta Be. Oh pte 1901-1905 12,854 1,517 19,860 60 
UD RRR Pas erat se) okra dla Hk uae Leia a enn (oa aa 1906-1910 16,564 1,597 10,583* 30 
SOLE ESIC aA GRO nc HAGLER CERO RID aa iene 1911-1912 15,436 2,090 8,835 35 
*For 1907-8, the quantity credited to Prince Edward Island was only 1,672 barrels. 
Leaving that year out, the average for the remaining four years becomes 12,811 barrels, which 
is 40 per cent of the average total credited to the Dominion for the same period. 
