Report of the Board of Shell Fish Commissioners 137 



The density of the water over the natural oyster bars in the 

 Bay varied during the period covered by the survey, July 20 to 

 December 12, 1906, from 1.004 to 1.0122, over Sandy Point, 

 North bar, and from 1.0066 to 1.0122 over Holland Point bar. 

 For short periods during the spring the density over the entire 

 part of the Bay adjacent to Anne Arundel County probably 

 falls to a point as low as 1.003, perhaps lower. 



Three large areas of barren bottom form gaps in the belt of 

 natural oyster bars at the following places : one of about 1,000 

 acres between HacJcett Point and Tolly Point bars ; one of about 

 500 acres between Tolly Point, Under the Gums and Thomas 

 Point, North, bars, and one of about 500 acres between Bay 

 Shore, Long and Holland Point bars. These bottoms, although 

 soft, can be readily hardened with shells. At certain stages of 

 the tide the currents run over them with high velocity and the 

 density of the water over them never'falls to a point low enough 

 to kill oysters. During the spawning season an abundant sup- 

 ply of oyster fry, from the oysters on the bars both above and 

 below, is daily carried over each of the barren bottoms under 

 discussion, and there is good reason to believe that if planted 

 with shells th^se barren bottoms would produce each year more 

 than enough seed oysters to plant all of the barren bottoms in 

 the county which are adapted for growing marketable oysters 

 from seed. 



Areas Designated for Dredging Operations. 



Chesapeake Bay. 

 (Charts of Natural Oyster Bars, Nos. 1, 2 and 4.) 



Six large natural oyster bars, covering an area aggregating 

 14,278 acres, are designated for the use of oystermen who catch 

 oysters by means of dredges. Five of these are located in the 

 upper part of the waters of the county between a point near the 

 Seven Foot Knoll Light House and a point about .75 mile north 

 of Sandy Point Light House, the other in the southern section 

 of the county between Three Sisters and Long bars. 



These bars, with the exception of the "Lumps" (an area east 

 of the Craighill Channel charted and buoyed to contain 7,548 



