BIRTH, GROWTH AND REPRODUCTION OF OYSTERS. 125 



oysters if spawned on a muddy bottom are lost, although 

 the same muddy bottom is highly suitable for the feeding 

 stages of the mollusc. It is also remarkable that breeding 

 oysters do not fatten, and that fat oysters yield no spat. 

 There has been some controversy as to whether trans- 

 planted oysters will breed ; opinions differ, and it is on 

 record that such a remarkable spat once fell on the Whit- 

 stable grounds as to provide a stock for eleven years, 

 including, of course, what was gathered towards the end 

 of that period. 



A close time for oysters is a law of the land ; but for 

 all that we might have indeed, we have now oysters all 

 the year round, because all oysters do not sicken or spat at 

 the same period ; in fact, the economy of fish growth is 

 not yet understood either by naturalists or fishermen ; as 

 an instance of mal-economy we have salmon rivers closed 

 at the very time they ought to be open, some rivers being 

 remarkable for early spawning fish, whilst others are 

 equally so for the tardiness with which their scaly inhabit- 

 ants repeat the story of their birth. In time, when we 

 understand better how to manage our fisheries, the supplies 

 of all kinds of round and shell fish will doubtless be better 

 regulated than at present, (s) And although, since that 

 was written (as Mr. Bertram, in his Preface, assures us), 

 "much in our fishery economy that was wrong 

 has been made right," I do not, I am sure, exaggerate the 

 fact that there is still room left for improvement, as far as 

 the Oyster Fisheries are concerned. Oysters (as already 

 mentioned) are found in almost all countries, but not 

 always of the same species as the British one, Ostrea 

 edulis. 



(s) "The Harvest of the Sea," p. 253. 



