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National Geographic : 1913 Mar
Contents
THE WORLD'S MOST VALUABLE WATER CROP itself to the lips of the oyster-shell and exerting a steady and long-sustained traction with each of its numerous small suckers. After a time the powerful ad ductor muscle of the oyster becomes fa tigued, the valves open, and the starfish inserts its stomach and devours the help less oyster at leisure. Other enemies of the grown oyster are fishes with powerful jaws armed with crushing teeth. On the Atlantic coast the most destructive fish is the black drum, a school of which may literally clean out an oyster-bed in one night. On the Pacific coast a species of stingray is the chief offender, and to stop its rav ages the oyster growers have been obliged to inclose the beds by stout pali sades. Further damage is done to oysters by the encroachments of mussels, barnacles, sponges, etc., which sometimes occur so densely on the shells as to cut off food and oxygen, and thus greatly retard the growth of the oysters. OYSTERS ARE CHEAPEST AND MOST POPU LAR IN THE UNITED STATES In any consideration of the world's oyster industry the United States neces sarily receives first and most prominent mention, for there is no country in which oysters occupy a more important place. The output here is larger and more valu able than elsewhere, and the relative im portance of oysters compared with the total fishery product is greater. Further more, among the leading oyster-produc ing countries the cost of oysters to the consumer is least and the per caput con sumption is greatest in the United States. Additional evidence of the conspicuous position held by the oyster is seen in the facts (i) that it is taken in every coastal State except one; (2) that in 15 States it is the chief fishery product, and (3) that it is the most extensively cultivated of our aquatic animals. The annual oyster output at this time is about 37,000,000 bushels, with a value to the producers of nearly $17,ooo,ooo. The yield has increased 70 per cent in quantity since 188o. Under the favor able conditions now prevailing, the out put is becoming larger year after year in the country as a whole. The limit of production has perhaps been practically reached in certain States, but in most States the industry is capable of great expansion. In recent years the South Atlantic and Gulf States have experi enced a noteworthy augmentation of yield as a result of increased apprecia tion of the oyster resources and in creased encouragement given to oyster culture. The seven leading oyster States at this time are Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, and Louisiana, in each of which over a million bushels of oysters are marketed annually. Virginia is the ranking State as regards production, with over 6 mil lion bushels, followed by Maryland, with over 5/ million bushels, and Connecti cut, with about 4 million oushels. As regards value of oysters taken, Connec ticut and New York lead, with over 2/ million dollars each, followed by Vir ginia and Maryland, with about 24 mil lion dollars each. In other words, an average bushel of oysters in Connecticut and New York brings the oysterman 80 cents, while a bushel in Maryland and Virginia brings less than 40 cents. CHESAPEAKE BAY IS THE WORLD'S GREAT EST OYSTER GROUND The body of water which produces more oysters than any other body of water in the United States or, in fact, in the whole world is Chesapeake Bay. The latest statistics of the oyster industry show the preponderating importance of the bay: an output of over 1I million bushels, valued at more than $4,250,000, or 30 per cent of the quantity and 25 per cent of the value of the entire oyster crop of the United States for 1908. While the oyster yield of Chesapeake Bay and tributaries in all recent years has been considerably less than formerly, nevertheless the industry today is in a healthier condition than ever before. This apparently paradoxical statement is explained by the fact that whereas in earlier years a very large proportion of the product was obtained from public beds, whose depletion had already begun and whose ultimate destruction was in evitable, now an annually increasing pro portion of the oyster output is taken 261
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