That section

2393. OYSTERS, WHERE PURCHASED TO BE CARRIED OUT OF THE STATE.—If any person shall purchase and load on a vessel or boat any oysters to be carried out of the State in the shell, except at the following places, to-wit, the south end of Roanoke Island, Stumpy Point Bay, Parched Corn Bay, Wysocking Bay, West Bluff Bay, Great Island Narrows, or Swan Quarter Bay (as the Oyster Commissioner may determine), Portsmouth, Ocracoke, Bay River, mouth of Rose Bay, or Harbor Island; or if any person shall load more than one boat or vessel at any of said places at one and the same time, of if any person shall load any boat or vessel with oysters to be carried out of the State without such vessel having an inspector on board at the time the oysters are delivered, or shall carry any vessel loaded or partly loaded with oysters through the canals without a certificate showing that the oysters have been inspected and the taxes thereon paid, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and be fined not more than fifty dollars or imprisoned not more than thirty days.

1903, c. 516, s. 17.

be repealed and the following substituted for it:

Any corporation domiciled in this State with their factories, shucking plants, and shipping depots located in this State, may enjoy the rights of fishing oysters from the natural reefs and of bedding oysters on leased bedding grounds: Provided, such oysters are canned, shucked, or packed in this State, or shipped raw in shells from a shipping depot in this State for consumption either in or out of this State; but no person, firm, or corporation shall ship oysters out of this State for canning or packing out of this State. As it is the desire of the State to encourage the planting of shells on barren bottoms in this State, no oysters in shell shall be shipped out of this State without the shipper first obtains from the Shellfish Commissioner of North Carolina permit so to do, and for which no charge shall be made by said Commissioner.

That sections

2401. LARCENY OF OYSTERS ON PRIVATE BEDS.-Any person who shall feloniously take, catch, or capture or carry away any shell-fish from the bed or ground of another, shall be guilty of larceny and punished accordingly. 1887, c. 119, s. 15.

and

2402. OYSTERS CAUGHT AT NIGHT; INJURY TO PRIVATE BEDS.-If any person shall wilfully commit any trespass or injury with any instrument or implement upon any ground upon which shell-fish are being raised or cultivated, or shall remove, destroy, or deface any mark or monument lawfully set up for the purpose of marking any grounds, or who shall work on any oysterground at night, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanor. But nothing in the provisions of this section shall be construed as authorizing interference with the capture of migratory fishes or free navigation or the right to use on any

private grounds any method or implement for the taking, growing, or cultivation of shell-fish.

1887, c. 119, s. 11.

be repealed and the following substituted for them:

SECTION. . . . . Any person who shall wilfully and without authority take or remove oysters from any land leased under the laws of the State of North Carolina, or shall wilfully injure or interfere with the oysters of such land in any manner, or injure oysters thereupon situated, or wilfully remove, alter, or interfere with the stakes, buoys, or monuments marking the same, shall, upon conviction thereof, for the first offense be sentenced to imprisonment in jail or in the penitentiary, in the discretion of the Court, for not less than three months and not more than two years, and for the second or any subsequent offense be sentenced to imprisonment in the penitentiary for not less than two years and not more than five years. SECTION . . . Any person who shall work a dredge, scrape, or pair of tongs or any other implement for the taking of oysters upon any land leased under the provisions of this act, without the consent of the lessee or owner, or who shall, while upon or sailing over any such ground or bed, cast, haul, or have overboard any such dredge, scrape, or pair of tongs or other implement for the taking of oysters under any pretense or for any purpose whatever, without the consent of such lessee or owner, upon conviction thereof shall for the first offense be fined not less than fifty dollars nor more than two hundred and fifty dollars or, in the discretion of the Court, be imprisoned in the jail.

That Section 2415 of the Revisal of 1905, which was amended in 1907 by striking out the words "two and a half" in lines three and four and inserting in lieu thereof "three" and by striking out the words "from hinge to mouth" in line four and inserting in lieu thereof "in longest diameter" is hereby amended by leaving out the amendment of 1907 and re-inserting the former words.

That Sections 2373, 2375, 2376, 2378, 2379, 2380 and 2426 are hereby repealed.

GENERAL OYSTER LAWS RECOMMENDED.

The convention adopted a resolution regarding the reorganization of the Shell-fish Commission.

The convention were of the opinion that a Shell-fish Commission should be established and inaugurated by the Legislature on similar lines as those relating to the formation of the Fish Commission; believing that if legislation is obtained regarding the cultivation of the oyster and the

leasing of bottoms for that purpose, it will require the Shell-fish Commissioner and the Deputy Commissioner to devote all their time to the carrying out of the duties of their office, and it recommends the following: 1. NORTH CAROLINA SHELL-FISH COMMISSION.-The Shell-fish Commission shall, except as in this act otherwise provided, consist of a single Commissioner. He shall be appointed by the Governor by and with the advice and consent of the Senate within thirty days after the passage of this act. He shall be responsible for the carrying out of the duties of his office to the Geological and Economic Survey Board, and shall make semi-annual reports to them. The term of office of such Commissioner and his successors in office shall be four years or until their successors are appointed and qualified, and in case of vacancy in the office, the appointment shall be to fill the vacancy. The said Commissioner shall appoint a Deputy Commissioner, who, during the absence or inability to act of the Commissioner, shall have and exercise all of the powers of the Commissioner. The Shell-fish Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner shall each execute and file with the Secretary of State bonds in the sum of seven thousand and five thousand dollars, respectively, with sureties to be approved by the Secretary of State, conditioned for the faithful performance of their duties and to account for and pay over, pursuant to law, all moneys received by them in their office. The Shell-fish Commissioner shall take and subscribe an oath to support the Constitution and for the faithful performance of the duties of his office, which oath shall be filed with the bond. The Deputy Commissioner may be removed from his office for cause by the Commissioner, who may appoint his successor. INSPECTORS, HOW APPOINTED; TERM, SALARY, BOND, OATH OF OFFICE. The Shell-fish Commissioner shall appoint, from the counties within which they are to perform their duties, a sufficient number of inspectors, who shall serve during the oyster season, and may remove them for cause. He shall fix the compensation of the inspectors at not exceeding fifty dollars a month while on duty, and shall designate the length of service, the time when the inspectors go on duty and when they go off. The inspectors shall give bond in the sum of five hundred dollars, payable to the State of North Carolina, conditioned for the performance of the duties of their office, and the faithful accounting for all moneys. received, which bond shall have at least two sufficient sureties, to be justified before, approved by, and filed with the Clerk of the Superior Court of the county where they reside, and shall take, subscribe, and file with such Clerk an oath of office. They shall be paid only for the time they serve.

OFFICE AND CLERICAL FORCE.-The Commissioner shall have an office in some town conveniently located to the oyster-beds of the State, and he is authorized to employ such clerks as may be necessary for the proper carrying on of the work of his office.

EQUIPMENT. The Shell-fish Commissioner is authorized, by and with the consent of the Geological and Economic Survey Board, to purchase or rent such boats, dredges, and other equipment as may be necessary to enable him and his deputies to carry out the duties of his office as specified in this act.

DUTIES OF THE SHELL-FISH COMMISSIONER.-The Shell-fish Commissioner shall have a general supervision over every branch of the shell-fish industry, including the oyster, clam, scallop, and other mollusca, and see that the laws regulating the same are rigidly enforced. He shall collect and compile statistics showing the annual product of the oysters, clams, and other mollusca that are taken out of the waters of the State, and the capital invested and the apparatus employed; he shall have surveyed and marked in a prominent manner those areas of bottoms in the waters of the State in which oyster-tonging or dredging is prohibited by law, or those areas which are leased for the purpose of the cultivation of oysters or clams; he shall be responsible for the collection of all license fees, taxes, fines, or other imposts upon any of the shell-fish fisheries, and shall receive all fines imposed for the infraction of the shell-fish laws, and shall collect all rentals for bottoms leased for oyster or clam cultivation, and shall pay same into the State Treasury to the credit of the Shell-fish Commission fund to be drawn upon as directed by the Geological and Economic Survey Board; he shall see that the laws regulating the catching and handling of oysters, clams, and other mollusca are enforced; that no illegal methods are used in catching, selling, or shipping; that the cull law is rigidly enforced, and that only proper and legal methods are used in buying and selling. He shall prosecute all violations of the law, and whenever it is necessary he may employ counsel for this purpose. He shall in his official capacity have power to administer oaths and to send for and examine persons and papers; he shall, on or before the twenty-fifth day of each month, mail to the Treasurer of the State a consolidated statement showing the amount of taxes collected during the preceding month, and by and from whom collected. He shall make a semi-annual report to the Geological and Economic Survey Board, setting forth in detail an account of his official acts, the condition of the oyster and other shell-fish industries in all their branches, and shall recommend such additions to or modifications of existing laws relating thereto as he may deem proper and necessary.

ARRESTS WITHOUT WARRANT, WHEN AND HOW MADE.-The Shell-fish Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, and inspectors shall have power, with or without warrants, to arrest any person violating the fishery laws. POWER TO TAKE OYSTERS AND CLAMS.-The Shell-fish Commissioner and the United States Bureau of Fisheries may take and cause to be taken for scientific purposes any oysters, clam, or other mollusca at any time from the waters of the State, any law to the contrary notwithstanding; Provided that the permits issued shall be signed by the Commissioner of the U. S. Bureau of Fisheries and the North Carolina Shell-fish Comimissioner.

SALARIES. The salary of the Shell-fish Commissioner shall be fifteen hundred dollars per year and the expenses necessarily incurred by him. in the discharge of his duties. The salary of the Deputy Shell-fish Commissioner shall be nine hundred dollars per year and the expenses necessarily incurred by him in the discharge of his duties. The salaries of clerks and of scientific assistants which may be employed from time to time are to be fixed by the Geological and Economic Survey Board.

NO INTEREST IN OYSTER, CLAM, OR OTHER MOLLUSCA FISHERIES.The Shell-fish Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, and inspectors shall not be interested in any oyster, clam, or other mollusca fishing industry in North Carolina.

REVENUE. All license fees, taxes, rentals of oyster and clam bottoms, fines or other imposts upon the oyster, clam, scallop, and other mollusca fisheries, or fines imposed for infraction of the oyster, clam, and other mollusca fishery laws, in whatever manner collected, shall be paid to the State Treasurer to the credit of the Shell-fish Commission fund, to be drawn upon as directed by the Geological and Economic Survey Board, and shall constitute the revenue of the Shell-fish Commission.

If the organization of a Shell-fish Commission as outlined above is incorporated, then Sections 2398, 2403, 2404, 2405, 2406, 2407, 2422, which are given beyond, should be repealed.

CULTIVATION OF THE OYSTER AND CLAM.

The following legislation is urgently recommended by the convention as being the most practical for encouraging and stimulating oyster and clam culture in North Carolina and as being the best means for building up and increasing the productivity of the natural oyster beds.

CHAPTER

SECTION 1. SHELL-FISH COMMISSIONER CAN LEASE BOTTOMS.-The Shell-fish Commisioner shall have power to lease to any duly qualified person, firm, or corporation, for purposes of oyster or clam culture, any