Report of the Board of Shell Fish Commissioners 201 



According to reports by dredgers familiar with the condition 

 of "The Lumps" at the time the order was passed, an abundance 

 of oysters under 2^ inches in length were to be found, with but 

 a very small proportion of marketable oysters among them. 



It is the opinion of the Commission that the section of the 

 Bay under consideration is one in which the quantity of oysters 

 which grow to marketable size will never be large, although 

 one in which small oysters will frequently 'be exceedingly 

 numerous. This opinion is based upon the testimony of per- 

 sons who have long been familiar with conditions as they have 

 existed in the past on "The Lumps" and upon conditions as 

 they now exist and are likely to exist in the future. During 

 the spring when the Susquehanna and other rivers at the head 

 of the Bay pour a volume of fresh water into the Bay such that 

 the water over "The Lumps" becomes fresh and remains so for 

 several days, many of the oysters in that section are killed. 

 Freshets of such duration as to kill oysters, while not of regu- 

 lar annual occurrence on "The Lumps," are sufficiently frequent 

 to prevent the growth of mature oysters in abundance. 



The condition of the shells on these bottoms and the velocity 

 of the tidal currents over them during the oyster spawning sea- 

 son are such that an abundant set of young oysters takes place 

 each year. 



In view of these conditions and the fact that until an industry 

 in raising seed oysters has been developed in the State, 50 those 

 who lease ground from the State for the purpose of cultivating 

 oysters need small oysters with which to seed their grounds, 

 the Commission recommends that its former order, printed 

 below, be made operative. 



ANNAPOLIS, MD., March 28, 1907. 



It is ordered by the Board of Shell Fish Commissioners of Maryland, 

 this 28th day of March, 1907, that pursuant to the provisions of Section 

 101 of Chapter 711 of the Acts of Assembly of 1906, the following area 

 is set aside for the purposes mentioned in Section 111 of said Act, that 

 is to say, all that part of the Chesapeake Bay lying beyond the terri- 

 torial boundaries of the respective tidewater counties adjacent thereto, 

 which is situated north of a straight line drawn from the point on the 

 Western shore of the bay, known as Bodkin Point, to a point on the 

 Eastern shore of the bay, known as Swan Point, excluding the whole of 

 Swan Point bar. 



page 182. 



