282 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
present time received from the reefs, in the form of license fees, an average of $5,018.36 
per square mile or $7.84 per acre. 
As we can judge of the ability of one financier only by comparing his operations 
with those of others, let us examine what has been done by other States so far as 
deriving a revenue from the public oyster reefs is concerned. The following oyster- 
producing States derive no revenue from this source : Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, 
Texas, California, Oregon, Washington. 
Prior to 1893 Connecticut did not tax her oy stermen for working on the public reefs, 
but in that year adopted a license system on the following basis : For each boat or 
vessel working on the public reefs the owner thereof is required to pay annually the 
sum of $2 if the boat or vessel measures less than 5 tons, but if it measures over 5 
tons he is required to pay 50 cents for each additional ton. 
In New Jersey the only public-reef oystermen subjected to special taxation are 
those who gather oysters from the waters of Cumberland County in Delaware Bay. 
These men are required to obtain a license at the rate of $5 on all craft not over 5 tons, 
and $1 per ton, custom house measurement, on all boats and vessels exceeding that 
tonnage. The total revenue amounts to about $5,000 annually, while the catch is 
about 1,300,000 bushels valued at $400,000, the area of the natural beds being about 
60,000 acres. But this revenue is not so much a tax on the public-reef oystermen as 
upon the planting operations of that region, for the license also permits without 
further cost the preemption of sufficient area of ground in Delaware Bay for planting 
the oysters obtained from the public reefs, this area being about 10,000 acres. 
Within the limits of Pennsylvania there are no oyster beds whatever, either public 
or private. The oysters usually credited to that State are gathered from the beds 
situated within New Jersey and Delaware and are obtained in accordance with the 
regulations of those States. 
In Delaware each tongman, with a few minor exceptions, is required to obtain an 
annual license, costing $5. The number of men licensed during each of the last six 
seasons has been as follows: 1887, 61; 1888, 67; 1889, 68; 1890, 80; 1891, 48; 1892 
(September 1, 1892, to March 31, 1893), 68. The catch amounts to about 120,000 bush- 
els annually, valued at $32,000. The dredging regulations in Delaware are quite 
similar to those operative in Cumberland County, N. J., the license authorizing 
the preemption of ground for planting purposes in addition to permitting the gath- 
ering of oysters from the public reefs. The fee is $3 per ton, and the revenue amounts 
to about $600 annually. The area of reefs on which the dredgers operate is about 
4,500 acres, and the annual catch is about 85,000 bushels, valued at $20,000. 
In Virginia dredging vessels are required to pay a license fee of 50 cents per ton 
for each month in which they are engaged, and each tongman is required to pay 
annually the sum of $2 and an additional fee of 50 cents for each boat used. The con- 
stitution of the State interdicts the taxing of tongs used on oyster reefs ; but conflict 
with this is avoided by providing, under an elaborate system, for a tax on the quantity 
of oysters caught and permitting the tongmen to pay an annual fee of $2 in lieu thereof. 
From 1880 to 1891, inclusive, the Virginia receipts from all forms of oyster-license tax 
in the State amounted to $120,153.83 and the disbursements for the oyster police force? 
etc., were $163,197.43. 
