OYSTER-BEDS OF LOUISIANA. 99 



with but little labor or expense, by the boats retaining from the 

 markets.* 



The recommendations which follow are mainly aimed to offer all 

 reasonable facilities and inducements for the extension of the system 

 of oyster-culture advocated above. 



G. It is suggested that provision be made for granting to the oyster- 

 grower permanent tenure of his beds. He should be permitted to 

 hold them, subject to the rights of navigation, under provisions similar 

 to those under which he might hold lands above tide. The first 

 cost should be nominal, say $1 per acre and the cost of making the sur- 

 vey; and the tax thereafter should not be more than a fraction of the 

 annual rental now levied on the leased lands. It would, perhaps, be 

 advantageous to allow the planter the option of purchasing uuder the 

 above conditions or of leasing on liberal terms. The end to be kept 

 in view is to induce persons to undertake oyster-culture, and not the 

 immediate production of a large revenue for the State or parish. It is 

 believed, however, that under more liberal provisions a larger number 

 of persons would engage in the industry, and that both directly and 

 indirectly this would result in an increase in the revenue derived from 

 the oyster industry, besides adding to the individual prosperity of the 

 citizens of the State. In March, 1898, there were but 32 grants of 

 oyster-lands in the parish of Terrebonne — which has the most extensive 

 oyster-lands of any parish in the State — yielding not over $80 yearly 

 each to State and parish under present laws. This is a small matter, 

 indeed, to stand in the way of regulations fostering what is likely to 

 prove a great industry, and which at the same time would do much 

 to perpetuate the value of the public oyster-lands. 



7. The area which may be purchased or leased by each applicant 

 should be increased from 10 to at least 25 acres, and doubtless it would 

 be good policy to remove the limit entirely. The policy of restriction 

 is unreasonable and illogical, and few would advocate it with reference 

 to lands above tide, its consequences there being obvious. If it be 

 considered, however, that a limit to individual holdings be desirable, 

 it should be remembered that when the shells are planted it will take 

 about a year longer for the oysters to reach a marketable size than if 

 yearling seed from the natural beds be used, and that the planter there- 

 fore requires a larger area upon which to produce a given annual crop. 



8. It is recommended that a definition be made of the meaning of the 

 term "natural oyster reef or bed" as used in the oyster laws, and that 

 this definition be drawn with due regard to the fact that a reef may 

 cease to be such, either as a result of oystering or in consequence of the 

 operation of purely natural causes. The reasons for this recommen- 

 dation are set forth on pp. 85 and 86 of this report, where they are 

 considered in connection with certain concrete cases which fell under 

 the observation of the writer. It is recognized that a definition of 



*Tke methods usually employed are explained in detail in "Oysters and Methods 

 of Oyster-culture," in Report U. S. Fish Commission for 1897. 



