Barataria Canning Co. v. Ott

Citations

• 84 Miss. 737

Syllabus

<p>1. Waters. Lands bounded by sea. Owner’s rights. Fishing. Oyster taking.</p> <p>In the absence of an express statute the owners of land bounded by the sea possess no exclusive right to the soil under the water beyond high water mark, and they have no greater right than others of fishing and gathering oysters from natural beds in front of their property.</p> <p>2. Same. Code 1880, § 956. Code 1892, § 3080, et seq.</p> <p>Code 1880, § 956, granting the board of supervisors of the counties bordering on the Gulf of Mexico .iurisdiction in the matter of the protection and preservation of oysters growing and being grown within the limits of their respective counties and with power to grant private rights of property in o-ysters banked, planted, or cultivated in the waters of the county, is constitutional, and a private right to bank, plant, and cultivate oysters in the waters of the sea, within the limits of the county, acquired from the board of supervisors under said statute, is valid.</p> <p>3. Deeds. Beservations.</p> <p>In order for a reservation in a deed to be operative it must withhold from the grant something which would have passed by the deed but for the reservation.</p> <p>4. Same. Construction.</p> <p>In construing a reservation in a deed it is not competent to show by evidence aliunde the intention of the parties, as the deed speaks for itself ; and if the reservation be so indefinite as not to convey any certain meaning, it will be ineffectual.</p>