5.— THE OYSTER INDUSTRY OF MARYLAND. 
INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 
Among the fishery industries of the United States the oyster fishery ranks first 
in importance, and of the States engaging in this fishery Maryland occupies the most 
prominent position. The attention given to oyster fishing and oyster cultivation in 
recent years has been one of the most prominent features of the fishery industries, 
and has resulted in a great and growing demand for practical literature on the subject, 
which it has been the aim of the U. S. Commission of Fish and Fisheries to supply. 
The present paper is one of a series of special articles relating to the oyster 
industry which this Commission has issued or has in course of preparation. From a 
very early period in its history, the Commission has constantly had in view the impor- 
tance of the oyster as a food product and has carried on inquiries addressed to the 
biological, physical, economical, and statistical aspects of the industry. The previous 
reports presented by the Commission are very numerous and cover almost every 
phase of the subject. Among the recently issued papers the following relating to the 
Atlantic coast may be mentioned: “Notes on the Oyster Industry of Connecticut,” 
“The Physical and Biological Characteristics of the Natural Oyster-Grounds of South 
Carolina,” “An Investigation of the Coast Waters of South Carolina with reference to 
Oyster-Culture,” and “ Report on the Coast Fisheries of Texas.” 
In addition to the work represented by the foregoing reports, biological and topo- 
graphical surveys have been conducted in Long Island Sound, Chesapeake Bay, and 
Galveston Bay, full accounts of which have not yet been printed. The oyster fishery 
of the west coast has been dealt with in two special papers, “Report upon Certain 
Investigations relating to the Planting of Oysters in Southern California” and 
a “Report of Observations respecting the Oyster Resources and Oyster Fishery of 
the Pacific Coast of the United States.” For the purpose of instituting comparisons 
and affording opportunity to apply the methods of cultivation employed in other 
countries so far as they may be applicable to the United States, inquiries have also 
been conducted in all the countries of Europe having oyster fisheries, and two reports 
based on these studies have been printed, one entitled “The Present Methods of 
Oyster-Culture in France,” the other a “Report on the European Methods of Oyster- 
Culture.” In the regular descriptive and statistical fishery reports of the Commis- 
sion relating to the different geographical coast sections of the country, the oyster 
fishery has also received due notice. 
This article is a contribution to the economic phase of the oyster industry. It 
emanates from the Division of Statistics and Methods of the Fisheries of this Com- 
mission and is based largely on the personal observations and inquiries of the author, 
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