OYSTER CULTURE IN NORTH CAROLINA. By Robert E,Coker, THE NORTH CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. JOSEPH. HYDE PRATT, ActTING STATE GEOLOGIST. Economic Paper No. 10. OYSTER CULTURE NORTH CAROLINA BY ROBERT E. COKER. RALEIGH: E. M. UzzELu & Co., STATE PRINTERS AND BINDERS. 1905. Monograph. a ; THE NORTH CAROLINA GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. JOSEPH HYDE PRATT, AcTING STATE GEOLOGIST. Economic Paper No. 10. eee hy eu LT URE NOR DE CARO LIN A BY ROBERT EH. COKER. '" x ‘Sa QUAM woe — Tie RALEIGH: E. M. UzzeLut & Co., STATE PRINTERS AND BINDERS. 1905. By tranefoy | APR 1918 Pa > ~ =~ r A Gs Ars TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE. TRS HLL OM me GETING rue racn oe iter e. ct nse avetey ars ie), esol eaves allows. ects ace ts levels oles leit» ler shells 6 TA ELOGWIEMONG G5. sss = 2 SOe SaCataNe clicked ota shee lela eibrevsualiete iste REG at tRNA SORE Ee A 7 Objects of the investigation............ Set Nae ce es A 8 Can oysters be profitably cultivated in North Carolina waters?....... 8 Is oyster cultivation now an industry of importance in North Caro- MUTVED PH fe deuseronesicts ahs eat een BAP ices yin ARG NOt RACE eon CN A ERE ae 8 Can a State, by investigation and legislation, encourage the develop- TATETH (HO Hen GENT Sent NLS GIRVe i ocyeysiena ets eee on specie: ahs, laverai als rishee.euerel-eihielasts os 10 An ineontestable fitle.......... Meremef ect itea 3 Bese eeeheh ey Sone stscers) ePeue re enerrs 10 How may existing conditions be remedied?........4......... 12 PrOreGhone oleae ma turall MOCKS ye Scie cree) ts. aces eles are dus) Gildvele wielens 13 Reorecruion: of matirall clan DEOSive «6 5 ce sss orgs ere sie se snecne oes See tle Liberty of lessee and seed culture......... ae /eaalier mB Ge BueNe levees reels 15 NGA SUMMIT PALER, “ete.< ele cs ies ss RMelepeehetan ers kya oreiaroijane Waren vases elateroybuen 17 EVE Mle MeO tee OO UUOMIS stake rere ycits sent chore . 23 LOW DEUS Ales ENTELEG Scjcic cies ois sla sus hayes aieree sasusushesieverensiehayeia.e (6 24 lowe ens 5 Wee olein sd boo SiS emia OMS Ente tee cane Ss ene enelesrenones je, 2A Secretary of State to issue grant; amount granted limited....... 25 Price spaid: for stvanchises o.).c. 4-14-66 4-1 Fh GOES hereierelsehsie canes © ~ 26 Liable to taxation..... at bt TE ge nes ieaelapee igre asec se 326 IBOOKSOLECORGSE Ol OLAMES KEDiGs sc nes ls iacree: co. eee ns ee.s,6 se are. © - 26 Form of grants approved by attorney-general........ mesuet okay al cya Me WAS) CaAtEMINAOV SETS) <9 on.) cis evel wiaie 214 ere sue no CA IED MeL sree Dike Se ciapeateverey pa CIOSETSEASOMMIEXCED TION. 5cc'5 awe de ce oa ass suMbaitearbiratciohesabacRhcne a ayeteke be Pos At night or on Sunday...... SS CCGG CEE oe OLAS. PRCA EICNTReRERC RR ers EE are 2A Wer AP AREA SII hoe e. cis 20ers cise: cise 564 Meteor efais isha curate ais sear she E olencne ents CaLchimevoyStErSs wLullout LWEENSON sey cease cs eel aye, Suaystene Se Using boats not licensed....... Atel HELE Mery odd cestans eee, maretennense ees Displaying false number on boat...... I's Jorctene’atic (a are eiucfats retest Sense Failure to stop and show oyster license............ Sina cule swore (2S False statement in application for oysterman’s license........... 28 Dredging in prohibited waters............ Set aehMOS cllsielenerane sierosetehe es 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS. North Carolina laws relating to oysters—continued. Commissioner and assistant, how appointed,» removed; Salary pond): Oath: of (office: . 2a... meen ene i eee Inspectors, how appointed; term; salary; bond; oath of office... . Duties of the oyster commissioner............. eis sreyenahers be Duties of the assistant commissioner............. sal Suenos dated DWGES TO felNSPECOS 105.106 pens wie, ous ean eee os Who may be licensed to catch oysters......... Wit Sartre conan ats How license obtained to catch oysters; who may issue; form of... License for boat used in catching oysters............. Ses Imeenses reported monthly shee es oer sy errapente Teckel cnet ae Dredging, when allowed; prohibited territory................... Governor may suspend right to dredge................... Oysterssculledhon-croundss...-- 4a eee eee Oysters not culled and put on public grounds............. DimensionsPofr oyster) Measures... cee eee Dealers to keep records......... SIU ROIE RE Slots ok oars IPUTEM ASC EAE 2555) Mag cyerk: done eves os Peas ee ek Ore Ie Sas Vessels with oysters, when allowed to go through canals... SHelISsscatieredion oyster bedS. 4-46 nee oe eee Oyster funds kept separate, how DAI OUTS s)he eae AMIS ee eric eyisig ede tieyt ahs ie istto pe vei fene lene eren tie ia homeie atc meee wale of oysters and clams om the streets: ........ 0.25.5 080e. Oxstersmishrandedvor adulterateden ene ceiselee eae term ; Catching oysters—continued. PAGE. SellinesOVSters: NOL CULIEd:...\s.2.. c1do cu: emehov gem noemiiey ease eke are ies ia Z Oysters where purchased to be carried out of the State......... »/ 28 Unloading oysters on Sunday or at night......... ss sua iabehe te anwte a oets 29 Dealing in oysters without license........... FShace ta ee beheats Ra cae ee) Dealerstailine to: keep srecord’. seems eels oe ee eee : 29 Hvidencerotallesal dredsine: so c.eone se oee ei eo ete 29 Arrests without warrant, when and how made............ ate 30 Using illegal measures for oysters....... fas ohh sagveare laced eh stelle, ofenetotone be!) Gatchine oysters for Lime. 2m 4-1. cies siaret ohecouseyeha seep Roane 30 Larceny. ofioysters: on private beds. 5. sce semicon re ; Bano Gk) Oysters caught at night; injury to private beds............. Peston crak) Oyster Industry Regulated............ Potene esis ido: 5 cade bayeubnes Gator is being done on an increasing scale. The fishing of natural clam bottoms is pechaps at its maximum now, while the pos- sibilities of clam culture are as yet problematic. It is therefore important that the proper officials should examine bottoms with reference to the natural growth of both oysters and clams. The question to be decided would then be, is the bottom in question either a natural oyster bed or a natural clam bed ¢ The test of a bottom for clams is essentially the same as for oysters. A natural clam bottom might be defined as one whereon clams occur naturally and in sufficient abundance for an ordinary clammer to make a daily wage. IV. LIBERTY OF LESSEE AND SEED CULTURE The lessee should be unrestricted in his methods of working his leased ground or in the place or manner of marketing the products from his grounds. The restrictions applying to the fishing of oysters on the public grounds, in order that the oystermen of small means shall not be placed at a disadvantage with the larger oystermen, and to prevent rapid exhaustion of the public beds, should not be ap- plicable to the private bottoms. Thus, if two persons are working side by side on public grounds, one may be placed at a disadvantage by certain methods employed by the other; but if one is at work on his own ground where the other cannot enter, his methods cannot in any way hamper or concern the other. The wisdom of leaving every oyster farmer liberty to work his bottoms in the most economical way, as long as he carries out the provisions of his lease, will be just as well recognized as the wisdom of permitting every cotton or tobacco farmer liberty to work his lands in the most economical manner. It is a wise provision of the general oyster law that prevents the shipping into other States of seed oysters taken from the natural rocks or bottoms. The clause should, however, be so framed that it would not prevent the exportation of seed grown on shells or other cultch artificially planted on leased grounds. With our present knowledge of the natural history of the oyster, it is believed that the spat which sets on certain shells would probably have been entirely $ 16 OYSTER CULTURE. lost had not this cultch presented itself. Certainly the future of the oyster industry is in no way menaced by shipping out of the State seed from private grounds. The Commissioners of New Jersey de- plore the fact that their planters swell the profits of Connecticut oyster cultivators by buying seed from them ;' while they boast that they do in some regions (Newark Bay) grow a seed that they can ship? to the Pacific Coast, and urge that their State should supply other States with seed? Connecticut supplies Rhode Island with seed.+ It is easy to distinguish between the folly of shipping out of the States seed oysters from the productive natural rocks—thus depleting our own beds—and the wisdom of shipping excess seed from artificial beds—thus utilizing that which might otherwise be waste. It would, however, become necessary that the inspectors at South Mills and @oinjock have some means of assuring themselves that a given cargo of seed oysters is from private rather than public beds. The burden of proof may well be placed on the captain of the vessel carrying the seed, and there may be provided by law a means by which this proof ean readily be obtained. It is very probable that the raising of seed oysters may offer a particularly good opportunity for oystermen of small means, as they can purchase shells at 114 cents per bushel, and, by furnishing their own labor, plant them at odd times without extra expense. To grow large oysters might require rehandling and more care than they could afford to lve ; but they could, after a year or two, market the seed at probably 10 cents, 15 cents or even 20 cents per bushel, which, with a liberal discount for loss of shells, will leave a good margin of profit. Although it cannot be positively stated at the present time, without further practical demonstration, that the grow- ing of large oysters will prove profitable, it is a practical certainty that seed oysters can be grown successfully. The experimenting planter will, therefore, have two opportunities for profit in his oyster cultivation. There are some who cannot afford to wait three or four years for the first returns from their investment, but who can plant ‘and await the greater profits of the cultivation a large oysters, pro- vided they may have at least a small return during Eau of the first few years, and such planters might accomplish this end by planting a portion of their holdings for seed oysters. Therefore, if there is any argument advanced against shipping out of the State seed oys- ters raised from private bottoms, it would yet be strongly advisable me ee of the Commission for the Investigation of the Oyster Industry. New Jersey, 1902, pp. 4 Beport of the Commission tae the Investigation of the Oyster Industry. New Jersey, 1902, pp. ie Report of the Commission for the Investigation of the Oyster Industry. New Jersey, 1902, Dali. 4. Annual Report of the Commissioner of Shell Fisheries. State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. January, 1904, p. 4. . _ OYSTER CULTURE. alg that no such restriction be placed until the industry has passed the experimental stage. In this connection it is well to call attention to the fact that in the upper waters of Roanoke Sound there is a large area which is not suitable for the growing of large oysters, but which can be made use- ful for the growing of seed. Almost every year the abundant young oysters are killed out by the influx of fresh water from Albemarle Sound; yet these young oysters might have been of great economic value if they had been shipped as seed. It is reported that lower down in this Sound each annual set is overcrowded: the next year and the growth rendered valueless for market purposes. Thus, there are regions, and not only in Roanoke Sound, but in other places (on shoals, ete.), which have great potential value, not, however, for the erowth of large oysters, but only as grounds for the production of seed oysters. For these reasons it can be seen that great care should be taken that whatever restrictions are made relative to the shipping of seed oysters do not interfere with the cultivation and shipment of seed from such bottoms as are not capable of raising large oysters and also with the cultivation and shipment of seed from private gardens. It is difficult to get at the bearimg of present laws on this matter of shipment of seed. Express provision could be made that sections 3, 11 and 17 of chapter,516, Public Laws 1903, or any other law, should not be construed to prohibit the cultivation and shipment of seed as described above. Sec. 3. Provides for seizure of vessels or trains on which are loaded oysters not properly culled. Offering unculled oysters for sale a misdemeanor. See. 11. Provisions for culling oysters. See. 17. Provisions for purchase of oysters to carry out of State by vessel. The possibilities of the cultivation of clams are unknown. But experiments on this line are to be encouraged. Hence, a lessee should be authorized to use his grounds for the cultivation of either oysters or clams. V. MAXIMUM AREA. The maximum area a lessee may enter under our present law is ten acres. In most cases such a limit is unduly small. Ten acres might be a reasonable limit in creeks and small bays; also, where an individual does all of his own work, planting, cultivating, tonging and marketing, he will undoubtedly find that ten acres will be all fiat he can take care of to carry out the full provisions of his lease. On the other hand, however, it seems unnecessary that a planter who is so situated that he can handle a greater acreage and give employment to oystermen and boatmen should be limited to ten acres. In no other 1s . OYSTER CULTURE. State with an important oyster-planting industry is this maximum limit so low, and such limitation of area is not justified by expediency or economy. [t is an error, too, to apply in the open waters of Pamlico Sound the same limit that is adapted to bays or shore bottoms. No one has undertaken or can be expected to undertake to cultivate a ten-acre garden several miles off-shore in Pamlico Sound, for one could not afford to use, in planting and working such a small garden, the meth- ods that such a location would require. The planter would not even be able to employ a watchman. Clearly it is not wise to have a limit so small that, if the object that the law intends to further is carried out, it is done only by evasion of the law. In the open waters of Pam- lico Sound one hundred acres would be a small enough limit—and then far smaller than the limit in any other State with a prosperous oyster-planting industry (Virginia, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York). Even in bays, twenty-five acres would be sufficiently small. The conditions of the lease can be so adjusted, as will be seen below, that a planter, entering more acreage than he can successfully take care of, will have to give up his excess acreage and allow it to revert to the State. VI. RENTAL OF BOTTOMS. There are a number of reasons why an annual rental should be charged for the leased grounds. This rental should be large enough to be a source of revenue to the State, yet not so large as to prevent a man of small means from taking up sufficient land to employ him- self and his family. It should be in lieu of any other tax on oyster grounds. At present such grounds are assessed for taxation at a valuation usually of one dollar per acre; so that the State receives but a few cents in return for the franchise granted. One of the good features of a rental fee is that it will discourage a lessee from enter- ing, or retaining after a trial, greater acreage than he can successfully cultivate, But it may properly be urged that a prospective planter should re- celve every encouragement to undertake oyster culture. - For this reason the suggestion has been made that no rental be charged for the first year of the lease, in consideration of the expenses devolving on the lessee in connection with the examination and survey of the bot- tom. During succeeding years the annual charge may be fixed at fifty cents or more per acre; for, if the planting proves profitable enough to justify its continuance, the planter can afford to pay the State for the privileges enjoyed. OYSTER CULTURE. 19 VII. REVERSION OF BOTTOMS TO THE STATE. Provision should be made for the reversion of the bottoms to the State, provided planting is not done within a definite time or is not continued on a reasonable scale. The exact number of bushels of oyster shells that should be planted per acre each year cannot be stated; for this will vary with the character of the bottom and other conditions; also with the plan that the planter’s judgment may ap- prove as the best to use in developing his grounds; but a minimum number of bushels per acre should be decided upon. This should not be more than 100 bushels of seed or of oyster shells or an equal amount of other cultch per acre, to be planted within two years. Vill. TERM OF LEASE. The lease or franchise should be granted, not for an indefinite time, but for a term of years—say, twenty-five years. It is expedient that at the end of a period of years the State may have opportunity to revise the provisions of the lease, if it seems advisable, in order to adapt them to the state of the industry and other conditions prevailing at that time. CONCLUSION. In the preceding pages the fundamental legislative conditions that seem necessary for the building up of the oyster-planting industry, which at the present time is practically undeveloped, have been indi- eated and briefly discussed. The cultivation of the oyster offers em- ployment and profits to individuals who will undertake planting; it will be not only a source of direct revenue to the State, but indirectly, through the resulting increase of taxable properties, should cause a large revenue. During the past year, 1904, there has been more oyster planting than during any recent year, and this is to be attributed in considerable measure to the results of the investigations that have been earried on by the North Carolina Geological Survey in conjunction with the United States Bureau of Fisheries. There are other per- sons interested in the cultivation of the oyster who would plant if they could be assured of an incontestable title to the bottoms that they leased from the State. At no time in the history of the State has there been such a good opportunity as at the present time for the building up of a remunerative industry in the cultivation of the oyster; and with proper legislation, this industry should, within the next few years, become a profitable business throughout many districts along the coast of North Carolina. PRESENT LAWS RELATING TO LEASING OF BOTTOMS. The laws relating to the leasing of bottoms, as enacted by the Legislature of 1905, are as follows: [Pustic LAws or NortTH CAROLINA, 1905, CHAPTER 525.] AN ACT TO AMEND AND SUPPLEMENT CHAPTER 516 OF THE PUBLIC LAWS OF 1903, IN RELATION TO THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. Sec. 2. That any person who is and has been continuously for two years a bona fide resident of the State of North Carolina and over twenty-one years of age may lease or enter not more than fifty acres of any bottom where oysters do not naturally grow, or on any ground where there is not a sufficient growth of oysters to justify at the time of leasing the gathering of the same for profit. When any person desires to lease or enter any such ground he shall advertise the fact at the court-house and three other places for four weeks in the county where said bottom desired to be leased is located, and advertise in some news- paper published in said county for four weeks, and if there be none published in said county, then in a newspaper published in an adjoining county. Appli- cation for such land shall be made to the Clerk of the Superior Court, who shall appoint a man, and the applicant shall choose another, which two so chosen shall appoint a third man, and the three shall constitute a board of arbitration, and the said board of arbitration shall inspect the bottom desired to be leased, and if they find the same subject to lease and so report to the clerk, then it shall be the duty of the said clerk to issue a lease as herein pro- vided, and for such service the clerk shall receive the following fees, to-wit: Twenty-five cents for the application, twenty-five cents for the appointment and twenty-five cents for filing the report of arbitration, and copy-sheet fees for recording such lease and other papers necessary to be recorded. Such bottom shall be surveyed by the County Surveyor; all cost and expense to be paid by the lessee, who shall also pay a yearly rental of fifty cents per acre, which rental shall be paid to the Oyster Commissioner and go to the benefit of the oyster fund. s. 12. 2418. Dealers to keep records. All persons engaged in buying, packing, canning, shucking or shipping oysters shall keep a perma- nent record of all oysters either bought or caught by them, or by persons for them, when and from whom bought, the number of bushels and the price paid therefor. All these records shall at all times be open to the examination and inspection of the oyster com- missioner, assistant oyster commissioner and inspector, ‘and upon request shall be verified by the parties making them. 1903, c. 516, s 2419. Purchase tax. All dealers in oysters and all persons who purchase oysters for canning, packing, shucking or shipping shall pay a tax of one and one-half cents on every bushel of oysters pur- chased by them, or caught by them, or any one for them: Provided, that coon oysters shall ‘be taxed one-half a cent a bushel only; and no oysters shall be twice taxed. This tax shall be paid to and col- lected by the inspectors, and when paid a receipt shall be given therefor. Upon failure or refusal by any person, firm or corpor ation to pay said tax, his license as a dealer shall at once become null and void, and no further license shall be granted him during the current year, and it shall be the duty of the commissioner, assistant commis- sioner or inspector to institute suit for the collection of said tax. Such suit shall be in the name of the state of North Carolina on relation of the commissioner or of the inspector at whose instance Te) LAWS RELATING TO OYSTERS. such suit is instituted, and the recovery shall be for the benefit and to the use of the general oyster fund. 1903, c. 516, s. 10; 1905, c. 507. 2420. Vessels with oysters, when allowed to go through canals. No boat or vessel loaded with oysters shall be permitted by the inspectors of South Mills and Coinjock to pass through the canals, which do not have a certificate showing that the cargo has been inspected and the tax paid thereon. USOSE sob, alley sh 2421. Shells scattered on oyster beds. The oyster commis- sioner is hereby empowered to expend one-half of the balance to the credit of the oyster fund on the fifteenth day of April in each year for the purpose of buying oyster shells and scattering the same on the natural oyster grounds of the state during the months of April and May. 1903, ¢. 516, s. 20. 2422. Oyster funds kept separate, how paid out. The treasurer of the state shall keep all funds derived from the oyster industry separate and apart from other funds in the treasury and shall pay the same out only upon the warrant of the auditor, and the auditor shall issue no warrant on said fund in payment of any claim unless the same shall have been first approved by the oyster commissioner. 1903, ¢. 516, s. 20. VV: (Omang 2423. Clams. If any person between the first day of April and the first day of November of any year shall take any clams from the waters of Brunswick, New Hanover or Pender counties for the pur- pose of shipping, selling, marketing, or for bedding or pounding the same in any artificial bed, or if any person shall take or catch any oysters in the waters of Carteret county by dredging or scoops, or in any manner other than with the or dinary clam Sele or tongs, or if any nonresident shall take or catch any clams , he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. 1901, c. 113; 1897, ce. 333; 1899, c. 579; 1903, ce. 131, 414, 658, 732. 2928. May establish and regulate markets; street sales free, when. The board of commissioners may establish and regulate their markets, and prescribe at what place, within the corporation, shall be sold marketable things; in what manner, whether by weight or measure, may be sold grain, meal or flour (if the flour be not packed in barrels), fodder, hay, or oats in straw; may erect scales for the LAWS RELATING TO OYSTERS. 39 purpose of weighing the same, appoint a weigher, fix his fees, and direct by whom they shall be paid. But it shall not be lawful for the commissioners or other authorities of any town to lmpose any tax whatever on wagons or carts selling farm produets, garden truck, fish and oysters on ‘the public streets thereof. Code, s. 3801; R. C., c. 111, s. 14; 1879, c. 176. Revisal of 1905, p. 885. 3444. Food misbranded or adulterated. If any person shall him- self or by an agent or employee manufacture, sell, expose for sale, or have in his possession with intent to sell any article of food which is adulterated or misbranded, he shall be euilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined not exceeding two hundred dollars or be imprisoned not exceeding one year, or bothh * * * For the purpose of this section an article of food shall be deemed adulterated * * * 8. If * * * In eases of meats, oysters or fish sold or offered for sale in the fresh state, if such meats, oysters or fish shall have been inoculated, dusted, powdered, sprayed, rubbed, anointed, washed, sprinkled or fumigated, or in any manner treated with any of the substances declared deleterious and dangerous by this section, or with any antiseptic or chemical preservative or dye-stuff whatsoever, whose use and apparent purpose is to retard, prevent or mask decomposition, or to give to the meat, oysters or fish a false appearance of freshness or quality, Ss rs 1895; c: 122 1899; c. 86; ss. 2-6); 1899, c. 369); 1905, c 306,;.ss. 3 and 4. : ae van Shes mi SALee “ai ‘ © 4 ty Me » 7 < 7. as oe ‘ a 29 - i pry 7 af 4 a * - : f as (re? 1 ie S a ee - Ne ere a les ; : 7 Y ” 7 =, ry ' vr San We ge : 17) ie ‘ » ‘ 7 aT = z Rep ete ) sOn eee pug sl ~~ a — + oa | 4 ‘ “e | a g 7 es icf a) om ee } ms 5 € Fim ) i a7 ™ \ . r : b).\ 44) en oor eT Fp yy ce 28 yas py Oye mal ht Pie Yarsli le F Ca sont he ; Y Prue) ris ni J o ; rn 7 7 - we be! ® - ae LEP tedd oir WE Oar a . » © 4 ay —— u oy 5 = 4 s io ihe Be pie Oxy j ses 3. 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