372 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
at a time when those of other countries have been destroyed. The policy in their admin- 
istration has been eminently conservative, aiming (1) to preserve the banks rigidly, 
to guard the terms of leasehold against overdredging, and (2) to favor in every way 
maximum productivity in natural areas, rather than to experiment in lines of arti- 
ficial culture or to allow the tidal lands to be held in favorable leasehold for this 
purpose. 
Historically the banks have been, for three centuries, the property of the Crown. 
The Danish Cronicle, published in Husum in 1652, shows that even at that early date 
their positions had been determined, and they seem to have been surprisingly similar 
to those of to-day. Under the late Danish rule the management of this domain was 
a lenient and apparently a prosperous one, probably in part because unaffected by 
railroad transportation. The last company under this regime, a Flensburg firm, is 
said to have rented the fishing franchise for an annual payment of $17,000, and to 
have been allowed to fish unrestrictedly. The company, strange to say, conservative 
in its management, feared to injure the prosperity of the grounds and allowed only a 
stated annual amount to be dredged. When the property was transferred to the Ger- 
man Empire about 1866, the dredging franchise passed into other hands, and again in 
1879 the Prussian administration caused changes to be made in the holding, as well as 
in the terms of the lease of the fishery, bringing the details of management more than 
ever under the direction of the state. A reservoir with buildings intended for storage 
and fattening of oysters, located at the mouth of the Husum Canal, which had been 
constructed by and formed the headquarters of the former lessees, was now purchased 
by the government and became a supervising station. A guard or inspector was to 
be stationed here, under direct supervision of the Baurath at Husum, and two patrol 
sailing vessels and a small government steamer were to make their headquarters in 
the neighborhood. The arrangement of this reservoir station is an interesting one 
and will be discussed later. 
The leasehold now to be granted was carefully devised to prevent overfishing of 
the banks, requiring (among other stipulations, which are hereafter given) that each 
bank be yearly examined by a committee which should include a government author- 
ity, in this case the Baurath at Husum. No more than the exact number of oysters 
thus designated should, under heavy penalties, be taken ; all oysters should be brought 
to the government station at Husum to be counted, and to insure that no undersized 
oysters had been removed. The lessees, having the exclusive right of fisheries, were 
to pay the government a percentage on the total number of oysters allowed to be 
taken. Under the stricter terms, the leaseholder (for twelve years), after two years’ 
exploitation, declared that the industry was profitless, that the banks were deteriorat- 
ing and that he wished to cancel his lease. To this, however, the authorities would 
not consent, but a compromise, aiming to regulate the banks, established a complete 
close season for ten years (expiring 1891) and allowed the lease to continue from the 
end of this period. The lessee seems to be little more than a fishery contractor of the 
government, and it is not surprising that in his management he has resorted to simi- 
lar contracting methods. He thus contracts to pay the dredging vessels, about ten 
of which are usually employed, a percentage upon their catch — a price averaging 
about $1 per ton (700 to 800 oysters). The catch is paid for when delivered at the 
station at Husum. The governmental tax of about $11 per ton (up to 3,000 tons) is 
now imposed, and the lessee must pay the freightage to the railroad station at Husum, 
