a ER CONDITION OF OYSTER CULTURE IN 1875. 893 
disaster. The roadstead of Brest became again impoverished, in con- 
sequence of the imperfect reproduction of the oysters deposited there, 
and the plundering operations of the fishermen. The experiments made 
in the Mediterranean failed completely. The parks of the islands of 
Ré and Oléron and of La Rochelle, after a few years of prosper ity, 
rapidly declined and were almost entirely abandoned. It was the same 
at Cancale and in the Rance, where the attempts at oyster culture, begun 
by M. De Bon, resulted unsatisfactorily not long after his departure ; 
the majority of the parkers abandoned the work. Finally, the report 
of the maritime authorities stated that in the basin of Arcachon, at the 
close of 1805, the government parks were flourishing, but the natural 
beds were impoverished, and private industry was prostrated because 
of the failure to collect spat. 
Causes of this decline.—What were the causes of these failures, which 
seemed to indicate the ruin of all hopes based upon oyster culture? They 
were manifold: in the first place, ignorance or neglect of the natural 
laws governing the formation and continuance of oyster-beds; secondly, 
imprudent attempts at restocking, or cultivation under unfavorable cir- 
cumstances, quite excusable, however, at the outset of a new enterprise; 
and, lastly, the inexperience of the oyster culturists, all of whom were 
green hands at the business, the uncertainty which prevailed as to the 
choice of favorable localities, the methods to be followed, and the appa- 
ratus to be used as collectors. 
Action of the department of marine.—While seconding the efforts of 
M. Coste, the department of marine did not share in his illusions. It 
rightly considered that the renewal and enlargement of our oyster-beds, 
exhausted by the excessive drain upon them, could not be accomplished 
either as speedily or completely as he had anticipated. The department 
was not, therefore, discouraged by the failures it had encountered. It 
was this department, in fact, that had really opened the way, both by 
its experiments in restocking, commenced in 1852, and by the promulga- 
tion of the decrees of July 4, 1853, concerning aaaee fishing, which de- 
crees laid the foundation of a rational system of regulations as to the 
taking of oysters. 
The coast-fishery regulations of 1853 with reference to the oyster.—The 
main features of this system of regulations are the prohibition against 
taking oysters at times not allowed by the maritime authorities; the 
determination of the proper time for taking them dependent upon the 
advice of special commissions that visit the oyster-beds annually; the 
reservation of beds found to be impoverished or calculated to answer 
as centers of reproduction; and, finally, the obligation imposed upon 
fishermen to throw back onto the beds or preserve in parks the young 
oysters which have not yet attained a certain size. Wherever it has been 
possible to enforce these rules continuously, and at the same time keep 
a sufficiently close watch to prevent the plundering operations of fisher- 
men and other people living upon the shore, the marine authorities have 
