434 GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



to four hundred vessels. In six or seven years the dredging became so extensive and the beds 

 so exhausted that only three or four vessels could find employment, and the crews of even that 

 small number had to do additional work on shore in order to support themselves." 



The foregoing are a few of, though by no means all, the instances that may be quoted in order 

 to show the disastrous effects of overworking the beds, and in concluding the remarks under that 

 head it will be instructive to extract from Professor Mobius' work his prophecy with regard to our 

 own beds, which is here introduced : 



"In North America the oysters are so fine and so cheap that they are eaten daily by all 

 classes. Hence they are now, and have been for a long time, a real means of subsistence for the 

 people. This enviable fact is no argument against the injuriousness of a continuous and severe 

 fishing of the beds. * * * But as the number of consumers increases in America the price 

 will also surely advance, and then there will arise a desire to fish the banks more severely than 

 hitherto, and if they do not accept in time the unfortunate experience of the oyster culturists ot 

 Europe, they will surely find their oyster-beds impoverished for having defied the bioconotic laws." 



As the best stocked and most productive beds of Europe w ere quickly destroyed by unrestricted 

 dredging, so may the hitherto seemingly exhaustless beds of the Chesapeake Bay be depleted if the 

 present rate of dredging is continued. An illustration of this may be seen in the almost total 

 exhaustion of the once famous beds of Tangier and Pocomoke Sounds. Year after year these beds 

 were dredged by hundreds of vessels, and even the summer months afforded them but little rest. 

 The result of this has been plainly seen during the past few years, and more especially during the 

 season of 1S79-'SO, in the great scarcity of oysters in these sounds. Vessels having found it 

 unprofitable to dredge in these sounds since the oysters became so scarce, have turned their atten- 

 tion to otter parts of the bay, and will thus give the beds a year or so of comparative rest. It is 

 doubtful if they will ever again be as well stocked as in former years, for as soon as oysters again 

 become plentiful there will be a rush of all the dredging boats in the State. Thirty years ago the 

 depletion of these beds seemed almost impossible, and yet at the present time it is an admitted 

 fact that oysters have decreased at least four-fifths in Pocomoke Sound and two-thirds in Tangier. 

 If it were possible to restrict dredging so as to give every bed an occasional year of rest, the result 

 would prove the wisdom of such a course. Owing to the great extent of the oyster-beds in the bay 

 and their immense annual production, it may be some years before there is an oyster famine, but 

 sooner or later it is coming, unless there is a radical change in some of the preseut phases of the 

 business. Properly protected and cared for, the "imbedded wealth" of the Chesapeake might be 

 increased many fold. It is a shame that the gifts so lavishly bestowed by nature upon Maryland 

 and Virginia should receive so little practical appreciation. 



Dredging in Maryland is simply a general scramble, carried on in 700 boats, manned by 5,GOO 

 daring and unscrupulous men, who regard neither the laws of God nor man. Some of the captains 

 and a few of the men may be honest and upright, but it is an unfortunate fact that such form a 

 very small minority. The tenure by which the captains hold their positions is such that they arc 

 almost forced to disregard the laws. Many of the boats are owned by unprincipled men, and I am 

 informed that a number of them are even held by the keepers of houses of ill-repute. An honest 

 captain who complies with the law by not working on Sunday, at night, or on forbidden ground, will 

 take at least a week longer to catch a load of oysters than one who, disregarding the law, gets his 

 oysters whenever or wherever he can. The first captain, upon his return, is informed in language 

 more forcible than elegant that unless he makes as quick trips as the second captain his place will 

 be filled by some one less scrupulous. With such a system as this carried out by a large number 

 of the boat owners, what but evasion of the laws can be expected of captains? When a premium is 



