THE OYSTER INDUSTRY OF MARYLAND. 
281 
of the natural reefs on which these three forms of fishery are prosecuted has been 
found to be about 154, 121, and 80 square miles, respectively, and the average annual 
product during the last five years, 4,850,000, 3,450,000, and 2,750,000 bushels. These 
data form the basis of the following- tabular statement: 
form of fishery. 
Area, 
square 
miles. 
Product, 
bushels. 
Annual 
revenue, 
average for 
five years. 
Average revenue. 
Per square 
mile. 
Per 1,000 
bushels. 
[ Tonging 
Dredging 
Scraping 
Total 
154 
*121 
4. 850. 000 
3. 450. 000 
2, 750, 000 
$21, 947. 50 
50, 135. 09 
12, 198. 67 
f 
$142. 51 
414. 33 
152. 48 
$4. 52 
14. 53 
4. 43 
355 
11, 050, 000 
84, 281. 26 
Average 
237. 41 
7.62 
* Of this area 42 square miles are used also by Virginia oystermen. 
The foregoing table exhibits the annual average rate of revenue for the last five 
years, but as the license fees for tonging were increased in 1892 it does not properly 
exhibit the extent of the tax which that branch of the fishery is now paying, and the 
following table is submitted for this purpose, showing the condition of the license- 
revenue receipts for the season 1892-93 : 
License-revenue receipts for 1892-93. 
Area, 
Product, 
bushels. 
.annual 
revenue. 
Average revenue. 
Form of fishery. 
square 
miles. 
Per square 
Per 1,000 
bushels. 
Tonffifip - 
154 
4, 432, 500 
3. 100. 000 
2. 610. 000 
$32, 353. 50 
44, 781. 72 
$210. 09 
370. 14 
$7. 30 
14. 44 
Th’ftd o-ing 
121 
Scraping 
80 
13, 333. 74 
166. 67 
5.10 
Total 
355 
10, 142, 500 
90, 468. 96 
A vftrago 
254. 84 
8. 92 
The fact that about 200 vessels and boats work Tinder both a dredging- and a 
scraping license complicates somewhat the consideration of the proportionate revenue 
per square mile or per 1,000 bushels for those two forms of fishing. In the two fore- 
going tables the catch made by these craft has been noted entirely under dredging. 
Were it practicable to exhibit with greater accuracy these average items for the two 
branches of fishery indicated the average revenue from dredging per square mile 
would be slightly decreased and the revenue per 1,000 bushels would be slightly 
increased and an opposite effect would be produced in these two items for the scraping 
branch of the fishery, but the change effected would -not be material. 
It is thus observed that during the last season the dredgers have paid twice as 
much revenue or tax per 1,000 bushels as the tongmen and nearly three times as much 
as the scrapemen. The total revenue during that season' averaged $8.92 per 1,000 
bushels, or $254.84 per square mile, or 40 cents per acre. As the oystermen received 
about $5,500,000 for their catch, the State revenue was at the rate of over $16 per 
$1,000 worth of oysters. 
The total revenue since the adoption of the license system being $1,781,520.61, 
and the area of the reefs approximating 355 square miles, the State has up to the 
