=========+==========+======== YEAR. | Bushels. | Value. ---------+----------+-------- 1879, | 36,000 | $41,800 1887, | 43,183 | 64,115 1888, | 45,631 | 66,453 1898, | 101,225 |$156,235 1902, | 103,386 | 133,682 1907,[16]| 161,182 | 176,142 =========+==========+======== _The Oyster Laws._ In submitting a complete report upon the oyster industry, the oyster laws, which have played an important part in the development of the fishery, cannot be totally neglected. However, so important a subject demands separate investigation, and offers excellent opportunities for legal research. Therefore it is not the purpose of this report to give more than a brief account of the present oyster laws and their history. The shellfish laws of Massachusetts constitute the foundation of the oyster industry, as they have taken a practically extinct native fishery and have built up the present extensive business. So closely are they connected with its welfare that the future of this growing industry depends upon the proper expansion of these laws to meet the new conditions. A survey of these oyster laws, with an analysis of their merits and defects, is needed. Their defects have brought about the present unsatisfactory situation in certain localities, and should be remedied. Their merits should be strengthened and amplified, as the basis of future expansion. They have come into being from time to time, in response to the immediate need of the hour; consequently they have no unity, and are, indeed, but imperfectly understood. An insight into their perplexing details should bring out many inconsistencies. Again, no comprehensive knowledge of the history of the industry is possible without a study of the laws. The errors once committed need not be repeated to further embarrass the industry, and the lessons learned by experience would be well applied to its future development.