IV-111 



(4) Transplanting wild stocks as eggs, young, or spawning 

 adults from one natural area to another to provide more 

 suitable habitat for spawning, growth, or survival, and 

 to introduce species into new environments. This method 

 has been the backbone of present day oyster culture on 

 leased grounds. This method was also used to introduce 

 striped bass and shad from the east coast to west coast 

 waters. Widespread transplants of salmon have also been 

 made with varying success. 



(5) A variety of other techniques have been developed to increase 

 abundance and survival of commercially valuable species, 

 e.g., cultching oyster beds with shell to increase settini; 

 suspending shell strings from floats or piling to catch 

 larval oysters and grow the adults using the total water 

 column (Figure IV. 2. 11); moving oysters to nredator or dis- 

 ease-free areas; construction of artificial reefs to pro- 

 vide more suitable habitat for oysters, lobsters, and fish 

 (Figure IV. 2. 12); and opening or closing breacnes in barrier 

 islands to improve environmental conditions of essential 

 lagoons. 



(6) Aquaculture is also practiced in the experimental rearing 

 of larval fish and shellfish to study the importance of 

 environmental factors on survival and to determine causes 

 of the marked variation in year-class size. 



