18 



iu the deep bayous along the south, and southeast sides of thy 

 larger lake. The oysters on all of these reefs have a good many 

 mussels growing attached to them; but in most eases the extra 

 li^bor involved in the culling is the only trouble caused by this 

 enemy. 



During the fishing season of each year most of the salable 

 oysters are taken from these reefs, so that in the spring it is 

 troublesome to find good oysters on any of the reefs in this 

 vicinity. As the reefs are kept fished down so closely there 

 has been a noticeable decrease in the amount of marketable 

 oysters that a man can fish in a day at the present time as com- 

 pared with the amount usually taken at the time when these 

 reefs were visited by Dr. Moore in 1898. At that time it was 

 stated that a man would make from four to eight barrels as the 

 result of one day's fishing, while at the present time several 

 oyster men of whom I have asked the question, say that from 

 one and one-half to three barrels may be taken as the result of 

 a full day's work on the same reefs. 



During the month of April, when the fishing for market is 

 practically over, thousands of barrels of the smaller oysters 

 are taken from these reefs to be "banked" on private bedding 

 grounds. During the past month of April as many as twenty 

 boats could be counted at one time on the reefs in the south- 

 western part of the lake, and the average number fishing every 

 day in the month would be as high as fifteen. At the present 

 time the drain of the reefs is much greater than their recupera- 

 tive power, and at the present rate of fishing it will be a ques- 

 tion of only a few years at most, before the reefs are brought 

 into a state of depletion such as is represented by many of 

 the reefs in the neighboring bodies of water. Over the greater 

 part of the area outside of the reefs the bottom of the lake is 

 made up of soft mud; although there are many patches, both 

 in the middle of the lake, and in the northeast arm, where 

 the bottom is of sufficient firmness to support seed oysters. 



The salinity of the water is usually about 1.012, and it 

 varies little except in times of severe freshets. Oyster food is 

 abundant in the water and tlie very strong currents assure its 

 distribution to all parts of the lake. 



