11 



these are in such deep watei* thai they cauuot be taken proht- 

 ably with tougs. The salinity of the water iu tins bay is usually 

 quite low — J.UUbl) in March, 19U7 — and in times when the. 

 Atchafalaya River is high the waier on the surface becomes 

 absolutely fresh, as was the case for several days in xVpril, 1907. 

 The food material in the water is, under stable condiiions of 

 salinity, fairly abundant; but the supply, in the spring ai 

 least, IS uncertain, depending to a great extent on the condi- 

 tion of the water. 



A great many oysters are taken from the reefs in this bay 

 to be banked on leased bottoms in some of the neighboring 

 bodies of water, and a few bedding grounds have been taken 

 up in the southwestern part of the bay. 



In Buckskin Bay, immediately north of Bay Junup, there 

 are several reefs in the southern part of the bay an.i one large 

 reef in the central portion, while in the northern part the bot- 

 tom is mostly barren. The depth of water varies from eighteen 

 feet near the entrance of the channel from Bay Junup, to five 

 or six feet, which is the general depth over the greater part of 

 the level floor of the bay. At the northern extremity of the 

 bay there is a wide pass into Blue Hammock Bayou, so that 

 the water in this bay varies xery much in salinity, and is 

 usually too fresh to insure the well-being of the natural reefs, 

 or to justify any one in making artificial beds. 



In Blue Hammock Bayou, between Buckskin Bay and Four 

 League Bay, there are many places where the bottom is covered 

 with a continuous layer of shells, and several of the oyster men 

 who have fished in this region in years past report having 

 taken good oysters from these reefs. Several times within the 

 past ten years there has been a set of spat in this bayou, but 

 the young oysters have been used for seed, and, so far as could 

 be determined, none of those left in the bayou have lived to 

 produce marketable oysters. 



In the springs of 1906 and 1907 when this bayou was 

 visited, the water was either absolutely fresh or too nearly 

 fresh— 1.0028 in June, 1907— to permit of the growth of oysters, 

 so that it would appear that when a set of spat occurs here the 

 only way to save any of them is to take the young ones foi* 



