Argument might be made in favor of a higher size limit as being still
more favorable to the preservation of the mussels, but it is sufficient
to say that the economic conditions would not justify a higher limit.
At 2 inches a sufficiently severe restriction is placed upon the
fishery, and to go further would be practically to prohibit the pursuit
of shelling in so many localities that excessive hardship would be
caused.
As consideration thus far has been given almost exclusively to the
niggerhead shell, the question may well be raised, Will the same limit
apply to other species of shells? The minimum size of 2 inches
suggested can be taken as an absolute minimum, since there is no
species of any importance for which it would be too high. This minimum
would not, however, give the same degree of protection to the larger
forms, such as the washboard, the bluepoint, and the mucket. Should a
minimum size be fixed with particular reference to any one of these
varieties, it would necessarily be a good deal higher.
In the present paper recommendation is made for this one-size limit
alone, for the following reasons:
1. All conditions considered, it is the most appropriate limit that
could be designated for the niggerhead mussel, which is at present the
most important species of wide distribution, and which is, furthermore,
the species most liable to rapid extermination. This and species
closely like it, as the pigtoe, the pimple-back, and the maple-leaf,
are chiefly those that are now being taken in the very small sizes.
2. The same size applies equally well to the related species just
mentioned, as well as to the "hickory-nut," or "Missouri niggerhead,"
and the "butterfly."
3. The larger species, as the "washboard," "bluepoint," and "mucket,"
are generally so evidently valueless in the small sizes that shellers
do not take them. At least it is not yet of observation that particular
injury is being done to these species in this way.
4. To insure the least trouble of enforcement of the law, it is
necessary that a minimum size be set, below which no shells of any
species may be retained. There are many different species of commercial
mussels, and some of them so intergrade as to make exact determination
a nice matter in some cases. Distinct size limits for the different
species would introduce peculiar difficulties into the practical
workings of enforcement; it would be more troublesome to the sheller to
observe the law voluntarily, and loopholes for evasion would more
easily be found by the offender of wrong intent.
Should conditions in certain States or streams subsequently require a
higher limit for particular kinds of shells, a supplemental limit may
be fixed for designated species; but this could be done without
affecting the application of a 2-inch limit as an absolute or universal
limit below which no shells of any species could be lawfully taken. It
is desirable that few different limits should ever be used, and it
seems expedient to have but one size limit until the first legislation
shall have been tried out.