280 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
STATE REVENUE AND FISHERY FORCE. 
The State as a landlord . — Let us now view the oyster industry from another stand- 
point, and, remembering that the extensive areas of reefs are the properties not of 
the oystermen but of the State at large, examine Maryland’s record as a financier in 
controlling these properties, omitting consideration for the time being of her position 
as legislator and patron of the industries within her limits. 
Comparatively few of the United States have considered it expedient to burden 
any branch of the fisheries with a special tax; on the contrary the fishermen have at 
times been the recipients of assistance in the form of relief from certain general taxes 
or in the granting of bounties. But there is a growing tendency to consider the 
taking of oysters different from the ordinary fisheries and to cause it to bear some 
special part in paying the expenses of the State aside from the ordinary taxation of 
the property engaged in the business. 
Maryland was among the first of the States to impose a tax upon the catching of 
oysters, this being in 1854. when the local scraping license for Somerset County was 
authorized, followed in 1865 by the adoption of the general license system. Since 
1854 and up to the close of the fiscal year 1893 the revenue received from the issuing 
of oystering licenses by this State has amounted to $1,781,520.61, not including the 
revenue from fines imposed for violating the oyster laws, as this can not be considered 
a tax on the fishery. This is a greater amount than all the remaining States of 
America have received by special taxation from all branches of their free and private 
fisheries combined. All of this money has not been paid directly into the treasury 
of the State, a portion of it being devoted to the purposes of the counties in the 
waters of which the licenses authorized oystering; nevertheless it is public revenue, 
collected by authority of the general assembly and subject to disposition thereby. 
The following table exhibits by fiscal years (October 1-September 30) the license 
fees received from each branch of the fishery, the rate of fees required during each 
season having been exhibited on the preceding pages: 
Table exhibiting the license revenue daring each fiscal year from the various branches of the oyster fishery. 
Years. 
ToDging. 
Dredging. 
Scraping. 
Total. 
! Years. 
Tonging. 
Dredging. 
Scraping. 
Total. 
1854-64 
T 
1879-80 
$7, 025. 00 
$18, 606. 50 
$2, 689. 40 
$28, 320. 90 
1864-65.... 
$1, 919. 10 
$12, 111. 20 
1880-81.... 
8, 182. 35 
40, 589. 98 
3, 986. 14 
52, 7o8. 47 
1865-66... 
48,463.221 
$51. 380. 00 
$252,582.52 
1881-82 
8, 422. Q0 
52, 582. 05 
4, 108. 85 
65, 112. 90 
1866-67.... 
(i, 183.’ 44 
22, 515. 29 f 
1 1882-83 
8, 752. 00 
48, 841. 64 
5, 241. 00 
62, 834. 64 
1867-68.... 
11, 669. 20 
32, 535. 90 
1883-84.... 
9, 161. 00 
45, 127. 65 
5, 730. 62 
60, 019. 27 
1868-69 
10, 905. 56 
46, 800. 86] 
1884-85 
15, 627. 00 
69, 528. 72 
6, 489. 94 
91, 645. 66 
1869-70. . . . 
9, 409. 80 
38,675.80 
2, 830. 00 
50, 915. 60 
1885-86.... 
13, 083. 00 
49, 631. 59 
9, 752. 08 
72. 466. 67 
1870-71.... 
7, 900. 00 
41, 587. 46 
5, 172. 00 
54, 659. 46 
1886-87.... 
12, 626. 00 
52, 411. 68 
9, 620. 64 
74, 658. 42 
1871-72.... 
8, 790. 45 
39, 039. 62 
5, 776. 00 
53, 606. 07 
1887-88 
13, 082. 00 
48, 675. 54 
8, 321. 34 
70, 078. 88 
1872-73.... 
8, 969. 00 
54, 159. 46 
4, 954. 00 
68, 082. 46 
1888-89 
13, 812: 00 
57, 928. 72 
8, 374. 29 
80,115.01 
1873-74.... 
7, 420. 50 
30, 227. 77 
4, 206. 00 
41, 854. 27 
1889-90 
15, 741.00 
52, 945. 27 
10. 440. 43 
79, 127. 70 
1874-75.... 
7, 454. 00 
42, 355. 58 
4, 923. 42 
54, 733. 00 
j 1890-91.... 
24, 943. 00 
50, 275. 03 
15, 176. 95 
90, 394. 98 
1875-76.... 
6, 797. 00 
48, 468. 68 
4,418. 04 
59, 683. 72 
! 1891-92 
22, 888. 00 
44. 744.73 
13,667. 93 
81, 290. 66 
1876-77.... 
6, 382. 00 
49, 837. 46 
3, 625. 65 
59, 845. 11 
1892-93 
32, 353. 50 
44, 781. 72 
13, 333. 74 
90, 468. 98 
1877-78. . . . 
5, 504. 00 
37, 408. 39 
2, 623. 20 
45, 535. 59 
1878-79. . . . 
6, 075. 00 
31, 173. 29 
3, 472. 50 
40, 720. 79 
Total . . . 
319, 175. 65 
1, 252, 030. 80 
210, 314. 16 
1, 781, 320. 61 
From the foregoing table it is observed that during the last five years the revenue 
from tonging, dredging, and scraping has been $109,737.50, $250,675.47, and $60,993.34, 
respectively, or an annual average of $21,947.50, $50,135.09, and $12,198.67. The area 
