Chap. 564.—An ACT to regulate the taking of oysters in the Potomac river and
the Chesapeake bay, &c.

Approved March 2, 1894.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That all oys-
ters taken from the waters of the Potomac river, either with scoops,
scrapes, dredges or similar instruments or with rakes or tongs, shall
be culled upon the natural beds or bars from which the same shall
be taken as soon as taken, and all oysters having shells of a less size
than two and a half inches in length, measured from hinge to the
mouth, together with all empty shells, shall be left upon the natural
beds or bars: provided that where small oysters are adhering so
closely to the shell of the marketable oyster as to render its removal
impossible without destroying the small oyster, then it shall not be
necessary to remove it.

2. That where any cargo or portion of cargo of oysters taken from
the waters of the Potomac river in any manner shall contain more
than five per centum of empty shells and oysters of which the shell
measurement shall be less than two and one-half inches from the hinge
to the mouth the said cargo or portion of cargo shall be deemed to
have been unculled, and the person or persons who have taken the
same and any person who shall offer the same for sale or have the .
same in his possession for sale shall be deemed guilty of a misde-
meanor.

3. That when the purchaser or any other person shall have reason
to believe that any cargo of oysters has been brought to market in
violation of this law the inspector shall be called in to ascertain the
fact, and he shall thereupon cause the contents of every fiftieth tub
or measure to be dumped in any convenient place to be agreed on by
the vendor and purchaser, and the same shall be kept away and sepa-
rate from other oysters or oyster shells; and after the whole cargo, ves-
sel load or quantity of oysters so sold shal] have been measured and
the quantity ascertained the inspector shall, in the presence of the
vendor or his duly authorized agent or employee, proceed to separate
from the oysters so set aside all shells and smal! oysters less than
two and one-half inches in length, and he shall proceed to measure
the shells and small oysters set aside as hereinbefore provided, and
if said shells and small oysters so set aside, after being so separated
from the marketable oysters, shall be found to exceed five per centum
of the whole quantity so set aside as aforesaid, then the vendor shall
be deemed to have violated this act.

4. That any person violating any section of this act shall, upon
conviction thereof, be fined not less than twenty-five dollars and not
more than three hundred dollars, in the discretion of the jury or
other tribunal before whom such offender may be tried.

do. That all oysters taken in the waters of the Chesapeake bay or
its tributaries, either in the state of Maryland or Virginia, shall be
subject to the operation of the laws of the state in which such oys-
ters may be offered for sale, and any person offering oysters for sale,
or having the same in his possesion for sale, which shall not have
been culled as required by the laws of the state in which they may
be offered for sale, shall be liable to trial and conviction in the same
manner that such person would be if such oysters had been caught
in the state where they are so offered for sale, and, upon conviction,
shall be punished in such manner as is provided by the laws of the
state in which such oysters may be so offered for sale.

6. That this act shall go into effect as soon as it is adopted by the
state of Maryland, through an act of her general assembly, and chall
-ontinue in full force and operation until the same shall have been
repealed or altered by either state. And all acts or parts of acts
10w in force in the state of Virginia in conflict with this act shall
9 deemed repealed from and after the date at which this act shall
ake effect.

7. And be it enacted, That nothing in this act shall be construed
n any way to impair, alter or abridge any rights which either state,
r the citizens thereof, may be entitled to either by, through, under
r against the compact entered into between the states of Maryland
ind Virginia on the twenty-eighth day of March, seventeen hundred
nd eighty-five, or any existing law of either of the two said states.