68 PEARLS AND PEARLING 



tion of the lawmakers. Fishermen do not fully under- 

 stand the unios and they destroy millions of mussels an- 

 nually by killing fish that are infected with glochidia. 

 There should be a law prohibiting fishermen from taking 

 the varieties of fish that are the most susceptible to in- 

 fection with glochidia at any time during the spawning 

 season of the most common marketable variety of mus- 

 sel, and also during the entire parasitic period of the 

 same mussel in the locality where the fishermen are at 

 work. If such fish are taken, they should be returned to 

 the water immediately. Some States have made laws 

 relating to the pearl hunting industry. The laws provide 

 a few months a year as a closed season, during which 

 time it is unlawful to fish for mussels. As far as the 

 protection of the mussels are concerned, the laws are not 

 valuable ones. They are based upon the theory that the 

 mussels are spawning during the months that are named 

 as the closed season. These laws were made by men 

 who would not be able to distinguish between a "three- 

 ridge" and a "razor-back," to say nothing of the spawn- 

 ing season or the parasitic periods of the different com- 

 mercial varieties of mussels. Any law which provides a 

 few months in the year as a closed season is a failure. 

 Every month in the year is the spawning season of some 

 particular variety of mussel. If there is really to be a 

 closed season at all, it would be better to divide a river 

 into a number of small sections. Then leave one section 

 open to the pearl hunters and close the other parts and 

 restock them with fish infected with glochidia. At the 

 end of a year, close the portion of the river that has 



