OYSTERS, LAW AS To. Oysters are classed with animals ferry nnturre (of a wild nature). and, therefore, in their wild state may be gath ered by any one when they are located on land under navigable waters. In England the eulti vation of oysters has been protected and encour aged by statutes since the reign of lliehard Most of the oyster beds in the waters about the British Isles are now enjoyed by virtue of special grants from the Crown or by lease from royal commissioners, or by prescription, that is, long continued possession and user under the laws of England. No one can appropriate to his exclu sive use land under public waters for the pur pose of establishing an oyster bed, but, after gain ing the right by grant or lease. a person has an absolute ownership in the oysters he plants or deposits in the space allotted to him, and appro priation of them by another in such a case is punishable as a misdemeanor.
In the United State; generally, after wild oysters are gathered and 'planted.' that is. placed in another location for the purpose of propaga tion, they remain the property of the person who has thus reclaimed them, even though lie plants them on ground under public waters. This rule prevails in most States, even in the absence of statutes, but there are generally statutory pro visions regulating the industry. especially in re gard to giving notice to the public where a per son appropriates land under public waters for an oyster bed, and also establishing `close' sea sons. Therefore, in most States any one has a right to preempt an unoccupied area under public waters and establish thereon an oyster bed. When a bed is once established, as long as it is maintained, the law protects the owner. as the person planting the bed is called, in his property right in the oysters, and in his posse=sion of the area which his bed covers. The owner of an oyster bed is not only entitled to the oysters which he plants. in order to allow them to mature, but also to all offspring from those oysters. with in the limits of his bed. The statutes usually re quire one who claims an oyster bed to stake it otT by means- of long poles embedded in the mud at the bottom and extending above the surface of the water. This i= for the purpose of giving
notice to the general public and avoiding an in nocent invasion of the owner's rights. A person cannot acquire property right to a bed of oysters by planting young oysters in a natural bed al ready containing oysters in sufficient quantities to make it profitable for the public to gather them. If a person thus mingles his oysters with others which the public may gather lie loses all separate property right in them. and can only gather them as a citizen of the State. Natural oyster beds are defined to be those that are not planted by man, but where oysters are to be found growing in sufficient quantities to be valu able to the public.
Where no definite period for the enjoyment of the privileges of oyster beds is fixed by statute, the right to use the public land under water for such purpose is construed to be a conditional or qualified license, which is personal in its nature and not inheritable or transferable, and the State in which the bed= are situated may at any time revoke the license and demand back the posses sion of the submerged land, giving the owner of the oysters a reasonable time in which to remove them. This right of the State will not ordi narily be exercised, and as the owner of the oysters may dispose of them in any way he sees fit. and as they will go to his representatives at his death, it is often popularly supposed that the possession of the submerged land itself is a prop erty right in the person who is said to `0W11' the bed. The occupation of an oyster bed by an individual does not interfere with the rights of the public to fish in the waters above the bed. Statutes of a State prohibiting citizens of other States from taking oysters or locating beds on lands under its navigable waters have been held to he constitutional. A person taking oysters from a private oyster bed, without per mission, is guilty of larceny. See FISHING LAWS FER.E NATURE. COINUlt the local laws and decision, for specific information of local rights.