THIRTEENTH ANNUAL MEETING. 143 
red up together, the oysters drop back to the ground, and the 
star-fish fall into the open mouth of the bag. When this pest 
makes its appearance upon the oyster grounds, great vigilence 
is needed to prevent the loss of the crop. The owners of pri- 
vate beds watch their grounds carefully, with a view to prompt 
action in case of necessity, but the public beds being open to 
every one, no one takes special pains to remove the star-fish, and 
it has been claimed that some of the oystermen have thrown 
them overboard after being taken. A stringent law to prevent 
this was passed at the last session of the legislature, and the 
owners of private grounds introduced an act to enable the com- 
missioners to remove star-fish from the public beds at the ex- 
pense of the State, but as some of the sections of the bill were 
deemed objectionable, the act was defeated. 
Another effort will be made next year to accomplish the same 
end, and uncomplicated with other measures, will probablv be 
successful. The whole area of ground in the exclusive jurisdic- 
tion of the State is about 300,000 acres. Of this about 45,000 
acres were designated by the town committees before the ap- 
pointment of the commission. The aggregate area designated 
by the commission during the last three years has been 38,548 
acres, making in all 83,548 acres under their supervision. In 
“addition to this, applications for 15,714 acres are now awaiting 
action, and this number will be increased as fast as parties dis- 
cover what they consider to be advantageous locations. The 
oyster cultivators seem to be generally thriving, are eager to 
acquire larger areas of suitable grounds, and new steamers and 
sailing vessels are constantly being added to the fleet. New 
purchasers are coming into the field, more capital is being in- 
vested, and under the fostering care of the State the industry 
bids fair, at no distant day, to be one of the largest and most 
important in the entire commonwealth. 
Lieut. WInsLow: I would like to ask if, at the last session of 
the Connecticut State legislature, any act was passed which 
would facilitate the detection and punishment of theft from the 
oyster-beds. As I understand the law, as it existed a year or so 
a 
