5.-N0TES ON THE OYSTER INDUSTRY OF NEW JERSEY. 



PREFATORY NOTE. 



The oyster is the most important product of the United States fish- 

 eries, and its collection, cultivation, and sale constitute the most exten- 

 sive fishery industry of the country. In a number of States the oyster 

 has greater economic value than all other water products combined. 

 Oyster fishing and oyster cultivation have received fully as much atten- 

 tion from the general public as any other subject connected with the 

 American fisheries, but it was only at a comparatively recent date that 

 some of the States most vitally interested in the preservation and 

 increase of the oyster supply realized the importance of dealing with 

 the subject in the light of modern experiment and experience. 



The Commission, through its several divisions, has aimed to keep 

 well informed regarding the status, methods, and relations of the oyster 

 industry in every region, and has, from time to time, published numer- 

 ous reports on the subject to meet the very active demand for oyster 

 literature in every part of the country. 



The great diversity of the physical conditions of the extensive tidal 

 areas in which the oyster exists, and the extreme variations in the 

 legislative enactments for the protection, regulation, and encouragement 

 of the oyster industry, occasion a greater multii^licity of methods of 

 capture and cultivation than is found inany other fishery industry, and 

 necessitate the institution of special studies in each State in order to 

 thoroughly cover the subject. 



The present report deals with a State whose oyster interests are infe- 

 rior in value only to those of Maryland, New York, and Virginia. The 

 great extent of the oyster business of the State is alone sufficient to 

 warrant the detailed consideration which is accorded it in the present 

 paper. It has been many years since an attempt was made to present 

 in one paper an apiDroximately complete account of the subject. The 

 changes which have ensued since 1880, the year to which the last report 

 relates, have in some instances been marked, and render the present 

 discussion opportune in view of the great attention now being bestowed 

 on the oyster industry in the Middle Atlantic States. It is probable 

 that very few persons in New Jersey appreciate the large interests 

 depending on the State oyster supply and the enormous annual income 

 from this source. 



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