36 



middle of the bay. In some shallow coves on the east side of 

 this bay there are some small dead reefs, and some scattered 

 bunches of coon oysters along the banks. 



The salinity of the water in Bay La Graisse averaged 1.0126. 

 and the supply of oyster food was abundant. 



From the north end of Bay La Graisse a small bayou of the 

 same name connects it with Bayou Terrebonne. In the channel 

 of this bayou where the depth of the water is from ten to eighteen 

 feet, the bottom is composed of firm mud and in part covered by 

 an old reef, where there are a few very fine oysters. The flats, 

 on either side of this bayou are quite broad and composed of very 

 soft mud. On the north side of the bayou there is a deep cove 

 where there is about three feet of water over a soft bottom. 

 There are many coon oysters along the banks of the bayou and of 

 this cove. 



In Little Bay Jack, north of Bay La Graisse., the water is 

 from three to five feet deep and the bottom generally composed 

 of soft mud. There are, however, some quite ext^Lsive areas where^ 

 there were formerly old reefs. Most of the available hardenc'l 

 areas have been taken up for bedding grounds, as none of them 

 were productive as natural reefs. In Grand Pass Jar-.c there- 

 are reefs bearing some very good oysters; although at the time 

 when these reefs were examined the number of oysters found 

 was rather small. In Bay Negress the depth of the water is 

 generally about three feet; but there is an area of considerably 

 m-ore depth near the entrance to Little Bayou Jack. The bottom 

 is quite soft in the shallower part of the bay, but in the deeper 

 portion the bottom is made up of firmer mud and there are- 

 the remains of several old reefs. In Little Bayou Jack there is 

 ;i large oyster reef in the channel near the lower end of the 

 bayou where the depth of the water is from ten to eighteen feet. 

 Outside of this reef the bottom is composed of very soft mud, 

 both in the channel and on the flats. The oysters on this reef 

 were arranged in densely crowded clusters and were of rather 

 poor quality. In Bay Jack the depth of the water and the char- 

 acter of the bottom is very similar to that in the other bays 

 near by. There are no productive natural reefs left in this bay. 

 The salinity of the water in all of these bays and bayous is, 

 normally about 1.012, and food organisms are usually abundant. 



