August 18, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



227 



Present conditions, however, render impera- 

 tive a modification of this view. Restrictive 

 legislation which is the logical concomitant of 

 this primitive communism, no longer meets 

 the situation. Agriculture has passed through 

 this stage of evolution, into which the fisher- 

 ies, the wild birds and quadrupeds are now 

 entering, and already species have passed be- 

 yond recall as a result of this method of treat- 

 ment. During a period of scarcity of corn, 

 wheat or potatoes we do not legislate for a 

 " close season " or to limit the quantity to be 

 taken in a day, or to prescribe the methods of 

 taking or marketing, but we use every intelli- 

 gent device available for stimulating an in- 

 creased production. Similarly, for example, a 

 close season and a limit upon the day's catch 

 did not prevent the commercial extirpation of 

 the scallop (Pecten) in certain localities. The 

 fundamental fact necessary for recognition 

 was that here is a ' specialized animal which 

 breeds but once in its life time, viz., when one 

 year old; the only adequate remedy possible 

 was to save the young under one year old; per- 

 mit them to breed, and then in the following 

 autumn and winter market the adults before 

 the end of their natural life. 



In the case of the lobster (Homarus) the re- 

 verse condition obtains. The lobster produces 

 approximately 97 per cent, of the normal total 

 number of eggs after it has reached the size of 

 12 inches and an age of five to eight years. 

 These breeding lobsters are then beyond the 

 danger from all enemies except man. To pre- 

 vent an undue diminution of the productive 

 capacity of the lobster as a race the adults 

 which have reached the breeding age must be 

 conserved by uniform laws, if we are to have 

 an annual supply of young produced. 



The public and the legislators in relation to 

 the oyster problem have passed the purely bio- 

 logical stages where the methods of increased 

 production were involved and the problem now 

 is to secure legislation for permitting in- 

 creased production by adequate and well 

 known methods, and to reassure the public 

 upon the sanitary problems involved in the 

 production, distribution and marketing, in 

 order that the market may readily absorb the 

 increasing quantities which can be produced, 



and thus have the benefit of one of the most 

 important sources of a cheap and valuable 

 food, as yet relatively unexploited. 



The crab, shrimp, spiny lobster, are already 

 feeling the effects of over-exploitation, and of 

 neglect to consider proper methods for increas- 

 ing the required production. The dogfish, de- 

 stroying more food fish than are marketed, is 

 to-day putting an enormous burden upon the 

 fisherman, and through these upon the fish- 

 consuming public. The existing conditions 

 are unappreciated because unseen. The ocean 

 has not yet become apportioned for purposes 

 of securing increased efficiency of food produc- 

 tion. The first evident signs are the world- 

 wide acknowledgment of the desirability of ex- 

 tending the national three-mile limit. It is a 

 significant feature that while the reason given 

 is the increased range of gun fire, the chief op- 

 ponents are those who wish to carry on com- 

 mercial fisheries as close as possible to the 

 shores of other nations, or of states. The re- 

 cent quahaug war in Nantucket Sound, 

 though a minor incident, has its significance. 

 An extensive bed of hard clams, locally called 

 "quahaugs" (Venus mercenaria) was discov- 

 ered just outside the three-mile limit off the 

 mouth of Nantucket Harbor, Mass. The op- 

 portunity for " easy money " was quickly and 

 widely apparent and steam dredges from other 

 states speedily " spoiled the market " for the 

 local Nantucket hand-takers. Much bitterness 

 was developed among the fishermen, and on 

 account of the undeveloped facilities for distri- 

 bution the public failed to secure a just ad- 

 vantage. The future stocking of the sur- 

 rounding shallows was postponed by destruc- 

 tion of this bed of old spawners, designated as 

 "blunts" in the trade, which yield a low market 

 price compared to the young or " little necks." 

 This vast expense of sandy shallows outside the 

 " three-mile limit " to the edge of the conti- 

 nental plateau is a submarine plain, richer 

 even than the Mississippi Valley in potential 

 capacity for producing human food, but is 

 relatively small when compared with the pop- 

 ulation which even now depends upon it for its 

 sea-food. With the same degree of support ac- 

 corded to the Bureau of Fisheries as the agri- 



