216 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
areas are given under that caption as are exclusively reserved for that form of fishery. 
For purposes of comparison the land area of each of the 14 tide- water counties is noted 
in the last column. 
Tidal-water area of Maryland and area on which each form of fishery is authorized. 
* Prior to November, 1893, the scrapemen licensed to oyster in tbe waters of Talbot County claimed and exercised a 
right in common with the dredgers licensed by the State to catch oysters lying along the west side of Talbot County, 
between Black Walnut Point and Tilghman Point and extending to the middle of Chesapeake Bay and Eastern Bay 
along said line, excepting the waters in Poplar Island Narrows reserved for the tongmen. A decision of the circuit court 
for Anne Arundel County, made in October, 1893, restricts them, however, to the waters lying between Wade Point and 
Tilghman Point. An appeal has been taken to the court of appeals, in which the decision of the Anne Arundel court 
will be reviewed. In the above table the conditions prevailing at the present time have been considered. 
Natural reefs . — In the general acceptance of the term, natural oyster-ground is a 
place where oysters grow without special assistance from man and in sufficiently 
large quantities to induce the public to resort there for a living, but not a place where 
oysters have not during a term of years, usually accepted as ten, occurred in sufficient 
quantities to make it profitable to catch them, although they may there be planted 
and grown. The reason for so long a period of years is that occasionally, because of 
the fatalities of nature or on account of overfishing, certain areas may for several years 
be so impoverished that they can not be profitably worked, yet after a period of time 
they may, by the operations of nature, recover their former productiveness. 
The locations of oyster reefs are determined by physical conditions — the salinity of 
the water, the character of the bottom, and the food resources, all exercising important 
influences in qualifying a locality for the growth of these mollusks. In four-fifths of 
the water area of Maryland the salinity of the water and the food resources are 
adapted to the growth of oysters, but under natural conditions only a portion of the 
bottom of this area is suitable to sustain them. Hence, in this State, the condition of 
the bottom is a more prominent factor in determining the adaptability of a locality to 
the support of oyster beds than the saline constituents of the water. 
The oyster reefs at present existing in Maryland occur mainly on the sides of f he 
channels in the Chesapeake Bay as well as its tributaries, and extend 'usually in the 
direction of the current. They are in greatest abundance at the mouths of estuaries 
