170 Report of the Board of Shell Fish Commissioners 



The Commission has been informed that it has been the 

 custom of certain dredgers to continue tfo work these oyster 

 grounds ofter the close of the oyster season, when the police 

 boats are off duty, for the purpose of supplying Virginia 

 planters with seed and that the material taken from the 

 grounds at such times is not culled since the presence of shells 

 among the oyster is not objected to by planters. 



For the depths of water over the natural oyster bars and 

 barren bottoms in Tangier Sound reference should be made to 

 the charts soon to be published by the Coast and Geodetic 

 Survey. (See page 7, footnote.) 



Fox Island, Great Rock and Philibys bars form a wide con- 

 tinuous area on the eastern side of the Sound from the Mary- 

 land-Virginia boundary to Janes Island Light. Their eastern 

 limit is situated on hard sandy bottoms in water varying in 

 depth from 9 feet to 15 feet. Their western boundary extends 

 into water 20 feet to 36 feet in depth.. Hard sandy bottoms 

 are found as a rule on the entire area, although patches of soft 

 muddy bottoms are not uncommon especially on the parts 

 toward the middle of the Sound. 



Harris and Piney Island East 40 bars, situated below the 

 mouths of Manokin and Big Annemessex Rivers, also form a 

 continuous oyster producing area. The areas of hard sand and 

 soft mud are about equal in extent, judging from the character 

 of the bottom found at the numerous stations. The depth of 

 water over the bars varies from 11 feet to 29 feet. 



Prickley Point* bar lies just below the mouth of Manokin 

 River on a bottom composed of hard sand in water from 10 feet 

 to 18 feet in depth. It has been one of the most prolific areas in 

 the Sound although now much depleted. 



Piney Island West is situated west of the large sand bar 

 which extends southward from Piney Island in the mouth of 

 Manokin River. Chain Shoal, which lies east of Little Deals 

 Island, would join Piney Island West but for the narrow chan- 

 nel which connects the Sound with Piney Island channel. The 

 greater parts of these two bars are situated on the hard sandy 



4Piney Island East and Prickley Point bars were included with the 

 beds of Manokin River by Lieutenant Winslow. 



