Parsons. — Fisheries of the Chesapeake 19 



part of the bay. He said, "It will take many years of labor 

 to bring the whole bay under thorough cultivation, and 

 great sums of money; but the expense and labor will be 

 much less than an equal area of land above water re- 

 quires. While it may be far away, the time will surely 

 come when the oyster harvest each year will be fully 

 equal to the total harvest of the last fifty years, and 

 it will be obtained without depleting and exhausing the 

 beds, and without exposing the laborers to hardships or 

 unusual risks." 



The fulfillment of this prophecy will be materially 

 hastened by a continuance of the present efforts of Mary- 

 land and Virginia for the protection and development of 

 the industry of the entire bay. 



Until recently the states of Maryland and Virginia 

 worked independently of each other. There was practi- 

 cally no co-operation in the enforcement of the laws, and 

 but little effort to get together for the enactment of sim- 

 ilar laws looking to the conservation not only of the oys- 

 ter industry, but to the conservation of the fin fish of the 

 Chesapeake Bay. It is apparent that such co-operation is 

 much more necessary for the conservation of fin fish than 

 for shell fish. One state might possess a highly developed 

 and increasing oyster industry while the industry of the 

 other state might be going rapidly to destruction. 



Co-operation, however, between the two states in re- 

 gard to the oyster industry is producing splendid results 

 in enforcing the laws of the two states ; and still greater 

 benefits are expected from the co-operation as to the fin 

 fish. We expect to accomplish the same results as to cer- 

 tain of our migatory fish as might be attained by federal 

 control. 



Such co-operation as to the fin fish, which pass freely 

 from the waters of one state to the waters of the other, is 

 absolutely necessary for their protection. Each state 

 suffers from the neglect and lack of protection of the 

 other, and indeed, it is only possible to conserve the fin 

 fish of the Chesapeake Bay by the co-operative efforts of 

 both Maryland and Virginia. All thinking people of both 



