1970. Yet. during the 10-yr period from 1910 to 

 1919. an annual yield of 1.2 million pounds was 

 realized. Up to recent times, all oysters were grown 

 on leased bottoms. Because of the cold waters, it 

 takes up to 5 yr for oysters to reach market size. 

 Massachusetts oysters are of excellent quality and 

 are eaten raw on the half shell. The wholesale price is 

 as high as S22.00 per bushel (7,920 yen. 250 oysters 

 to the bushel). 



in 1956. the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries (now 

 the National Marine Fisheries Service) initiated 

 studies on the off-bottom culture of oysters in Mas- 

 sachusetts. Because of the oyster's high price, it was 

 felt that this method of culture may be commercially 

 feasible. 



A log raft was constructed and moored in Oyster 

 Pond River. Chatham. Mass. Oyster and scallop 

 shells, containing seed oysters, were strung on #14 

 galvanized wire, each shell separated by a 3-inch 

 piece of plastic tubing. The strings were suspended 

 from the log raft for 1 yr, and then the oysters were 

 removed and planted on the bottom for an additional 

 year. 



The results of the study showed that oysters grew 

 almost twice as fast as those on the bottom. Survival 

 of raft oysters was about 6 times greater than for the 

 bottom grown oysters. Meat quality was excellent. 

 Finally, the results indicated that raft culture ap- 

 peared commercially feasible in Massachusetts 

 (Shaw. 1962). 



Similar raft studies were conducted by Matthies- 

 sen and Toner (1966) on Martha's Vineyard, Duke's 

 County, Mass. These results showed that suspen- 

 sion techniques offered a promising method of oys- 

 terculture in the county. The authors felt that further 

 refinement of suspended materials was needed and 

 that rafts which could be conveniently submerged 

 below the surface should be developed because 

 many areas were exposed to storms and moving 

 ice. 



It was not until 1970 that off-bottom culture was 

 attempted commercially in Massachusetts. Aqua 

 Dynamics Corporation. Wareham. Mass. has begun 

 to grow oysters suspended from iron-pipe racks (10 

 ft X 7'/2 ft X 5 ft) that rest on leased bottom. This 

 year they plan to have 575 racks. Fach rack contains 

 154 5-ft strings which will yield approximately 60 

 bushels of oysters. The corporation hopes to market 

 their oysters, which will measure from 2 to 2' 2 in- 

 ches, in I '2 \r. In a cooperative study with the 

 National Marine Fisheries Service. Division of 

 Marketing, it was learned that these small oysters 



have excellent consumer acceptance on the half 

 shell. 



An 8-ft high tower has been constructed adjacent 

 to the Wareham River for growing oysters (Zahrad- 

 nik and Johnson. 1970). A series of 4 ft x 4 ft 

 tray-pallets containing up to 50 bushels of oysters are 

 in the tower. Water is supplied to the tray-held oys- 

 ters through a pipe running up the center of the 

 tower. It is planned to operate the tower for I yr. 

 including a winter season. 



Rhode Island 



In 1910 over 15 million pounds of oyster meats 

 were harvested from Rhode Island. In 1970 only 146 

 pounds of meats were landed. Although many fac- 

 tors have contributed to this decline, pollution of 

 Narragansett Bay is the probable leading factor. 



At present, one company is attempting to grow 

 oysters suspended from rafts (patent pending) in a 

 small tidal pond. This is a small operation and only 

 800 bushels were expected to be harvested annual- 

 ly- 



Connecticut-New York 



In the late ISOO's. Connecticut was producing 

 over 10 million pounds of oyster meats annually. In 

 1970. only a little over 125,000poundsof meats were 

 landed. Set failures have contributed greatly to the 

 drop in production. Loosanoff (1966) reported that 

 during the years 1925-60, a good commercial set has 

 occurred only 8 times. In addition, factors such as 

 slow growth, predators, siltation. pollution, and hur- 

 ricanes have all contributed to the decline of this 

 once prosperous industry. 



In an attempt to help the oyster industry of this 

 area, a center for shellfish research was established 

 by the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries at Milford. 

 Conn. The Milford laboratory has become world 

 renown for its work in developing shellfish hatchery 

 techniques (Loosanoff and Davis. 1963). Shellfish 

 hatcheries are now located throughout the United 

 States and in many foreign countries. The use of lime 

 and Polystream- for predator control was also de- 

 veloped at the Milford laboratory. Unfortunately, 

 because of the current feelings about dumping chem- 



- .'\ polychlorobenzene product produced by Hooker Chemical 

 Corp . Niagara Falls. New York. Polystream is a registered 

 trademark. (Reference to trade names does not imply endorse- 

 ment b\ the National Marine Fisheries Service. NO.'X.A.) 



58 



