179 



DONAI.b J. BENSON 



A great deal of tioje and effort of the 

 PugC't Sound survey was spent in establishing a relation- 

 ship between artificially spawned oyster larvae and spt-at 

 liquor as measured by the Tcarl-Benson Index. 



It has been known for a auuiber of years 

 that in the fir^l few hours of embryonic development, 

 oyster larvae are affected by spent sulfite liquor, but 

 this is not important because nowhere in Puget Sound does 

 spent sulfite liquor come in contact with oyster larvae. 

 This is because the temperatures of the northern portions 

 of the Sound are generally too low for natural oyster 

 spawning and setting. Wild oysters are found in North 

 Puget Sound in very limited areas and the commercial 

 beds in the Bellingham-Anacortes area must rely upon pur- 

 chased oyster spat brought in from other areas, because 

 low temperatures inhibit natural sets. 



The use of bioassay results on oyster larvae, 

 a form not even present in the waters in question, cannot 

 be accepted as an indication that damage occurs to othei" 

 forms of marine life which are present in obviously great 

 and healthy quantities. 



While we continue to believe that relating 

 bioassay results to the nonexistent oyster larvae is a non 

 25 sequitur, we must question the method of establishing the 



