4 OYSTER CULTUEE EXPERIMENTS IN LOUISIANA. 



administration of the public beds and the establishment of private 

 ones. 



After several years of agitation and discussion the legislature in 

 1902 passed a general oyster law based on the recommendations of 

 that report. The law was materially amended in 1904 and 1906, 

 and as it now stands on the statute books it embraces practically in 

 their entirety those recommendations and suggestions. 



The effects of the law were almost immediately apparent in the 

 growth of the oyster industry and the increase which it contributed 

 to the state revenues. Prior to its passage jurisdiction over the 

 oyster bottoms was lodged solely in the police juries of the several 

 coastal parishes, with the result that the administration of the laws 

 was contradictory and ineffective. The potential wealth lying con- 

 cealed beneath the tide waters of the state was not appreciated and 

 the oyster industry was neither protected nor fostered. 



The several local bodies having jurisdiction had neither the incli- 

 nation nor the machinery for an effective administration of the inter- 

 ests committed to their charge. The oyster beds practically all lie 

 in waters remote from the habitations of man, and to police them 

 effectivel}^ is a matter of considerable physical difficulty, requiring 

 the use of boats to cruise along the coast constantly. Moreover, the 

 police juries and their executive agents were usually men having but 

 slight coastal connections and interests, and it is not surprising that 

 they were more concerned in parish matters more immediately under 

 their notice and within their experience and understanding. 



The fundamental feature of the new law was the creation of a 

 state oyster commission having sole jurisdiction, in oyster and cog- 

 nate matters, over the entire coast, insuring consistency and unifor- 

 mity of administration, and endowed with ample police powers to 

 make effective the law and the regulations which it authorizes. The 

 larger resources of the state permit the employment of boats capable 

 of policing the beds during the bad weather of the oyster season, 

 requiring the oystermen to observe the cull laws and other essential 

 regulations which under the older regime were disregarded with 

 impunity. 



The next most important feature of the new legislation was the 

 passage of consistent and reasonable provisions for the encourage- 

 ment and regulation of oyster culture. For those who comply with 

 reasonable requirements this provides, in lieu of the former uncer- 

 tainty, an assured tenure of sufficient duraton to prove attractive to 

 prospective oyster culturists, and while the restriction upon the 

 acreage (1,000 acres) that may be allotted to any one person is such 

 as to prevent the establishment of a monopoly of the best grounds, 

 it does not prevent the acquisition of an area sufficient to satisfy the 



