BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 83 



THE UTILIZATION OF LOCALITIES IN NORFOLK AND SUFFOLK 

 SUITABLE FOR THE CULTIVATION OF MUSSELS AND OTHER 

 SHELL FISH. 



By CHARLES W. HARDING, 



Assoc. M. Inst. C. E., King's Lynn. 



[Prize Essay, National Fisheries Exhibition, Norwich, 183L ] 



It may be fairly assumed that there is not a square yard of our coasts 

 which has not been visited by the spawn or spat of the mussel (MyUlus 

 edulis); and it would therefore appear that, in those places where mus- 

 sels have not been found, nature protests, as it were, against them; 

 some important conditions necessary for their development must be 

 wanting in the water, soil, or temperature. 



Mussel spat, which is free for a short time after extrusion from the 

 parent, will not, as a rule, attach itself in any quantities on a barren 

 sand, but will attach itself in large quantities on sands which contain 

 cockles, although those sands may appear at first sight to be sterile. 

 As the young mussels which have set on the cockle beds grow and be- 

 come thicker, the cockles are choked and die; but this is a very insecure 

 resting-place, as from the nature of the soil they are liable to be scat- 

 tered and destroyed by the sea, unless the bed is well sheltered. 



The most favorable locality for the permanent welfare of the embryo 

 mussel is from five to fifteen feet above low-water spring tides, on a 

 beach or shore consisting of sand well covered with clean sea-worn 

 stones, varying from the size of a walnut to that of a cricket-ball and 

 larger; this makes a hard, unshifting bed, not easily disturbed by the 

 action of the sea, unless in very exposed localities. 



I do not think it possible to demonstrate by maps where mussels can 

 be best cultivated unless a general survey of the coasts of these islands 

 is made, and such favorable localities delineated thereon. 



Mussels may be found attached to various objects. Large quantities 

 are found hanging to the piles of bridges, where the water is not too 

 fresh. They are found in large quantities on buoys and vessels moored 

 at sea, such as light-vessels; but, although they are found in such places, 

 it does not follow that they can be best cultivated there. 



In British waters, spatting usually takes place in the early spring, 

 and does not appear to be at all dependent on warm weather. On 

 December 7, 1877, I examined some of the undeveloped embryo taken 

 from a spatting mussel, with a microscope, and found it to have a 

 reddish appearance, and of the following shape, O O O and 



about the five-hundredth part of an inch in di- q q "q °^ ^ 

 ameter. It would not polarize, so I conclude the O 



shell was not formed. On December 12, 1879, I found large quan- 

 tities of mussels to contain similar embryos, the weather at the time 



