OYSTERS. 2307

excess of said tax thereafter remaining may be used for purchasing oyster
shells or other cultch or obtaining other seed oysters, to be transplanted
upon such areas as may be hereafter set apart for that purpose.

An. Code, sec. 135A. 1917, ch. 12, sec. 135A.

160. The Conservation Commission of Maryland is hereby authorized
to select and reserve for oyster cultivation as provided in this sub-title
any portion or portions of the natural beds, bars and rocks within the
scraping areas of this State, and to close the area so reserved for such
times as the Commission may fix, to transplant seed oysters, shells, or other
cultch thereon, and re-open the same for public use, subject to all the con-
ditions and restrictions set forth in Section 158 of this sub-title, including
the payment of the charge or tax to be fixed by the Commission as therein
prescribed, and the Commission is empowered to pay the cost of trans-
planting seed oysters not to exceed ten cents per bushel, and shells not to
exceed five cents per bushel, in the manner stated in Section 157 of this
Article, provided that oysters planted upon such reserved scraping areas
shall be caught only by scrapers of the County in which said reserved
area is located, holding licenses for the current season, who shall take out
a special license from the Commission or one of its inspectors or deputy
commanders at a cost of one dollar each, after taking the oath prescribed
in paragraph 6 of Section 158 of this Article.

An. Code, sec. 135B. 1917, ch. 12, sec. 135B. 1922, ch. 543.

161. The Conservation Commission of Maryland is authorized to
select and reserve for a period not exceeding two years for oyster conser-
vation and propagation any portion or portions of the depleted natural
beds, bars and rocks of the Chesapeake Bay or its tributaries not to exceed in
the aggregate one thousand acres, and to give notice thereof in the manner1
stated in Section 156, and to transplant thereon seed oysters, shells, or
other cultch, or to propagate seed oysters, or for the purpose of protecting
the catch of young growth of oysters, or for rehabilitating any depleted
natural beds, bars or rocks in the Chesapeake Bay and tributaries; pro-
vided, however, that before any ground shall be set aside by the Conser-
vation Commission of Maryland for experimental purposes under this
sub-title, the said Commission shall select five oystermen of the immediate
vicinity of the portion of the natural bars, beds, and rocks to determine
whether the ground is depleted. Any person catching oysters upon such
area without permission from the Commission shall be guilty of a misde-
meanor and subject to the penalties prescribed in Section 156.

An. Code, sec. 136. 1914, ch. 753.

162. The Commander of the State Fishery Force shall assign one or
more boats of the force to guard areas reserved under the provisions of
this sub-title, and to supervise the taking of oysters therefrom. The said
boat or boats shall remain on guard throughout each oyster season in
which the reservation of such areas continues; and when such areas are
reopened for public use, it shall be the duty of the Deputy Commander