with determining the percent escapement of each size through 

 the net. To improve the observation technique, an underwater 

 camera of special design was constructed and tested. Also 

 several biologists of the Laboratory took training in sustained 

 underwater swimming with the aqualung. 



In the shellfish program, studies were made of the 

 structure and elastic properties of shell ligament and on the 

 rate of deposition of shell materials during different seasons. 

 The electron microscope available at the MBL was used for 

 these studies. 



In the following years, 1955-57, the program of groundfish 

 investigations was continued for the purpose of suggesting to 

 ICNAF further regulations. The following research projects 

 were conducted: mesh regulation for haddock fishery; population 

 biology of haddock (Taylor, 1958); redfish (Kelly, et al. , 1959, 

 1961a, 1961b), whiting, yellowtail flounder, industrial fish, 

 and sea scallop; fisheries of Delaware Bay; and plankton ecology 

 with reference to the abundance and dispersal of haddock eggs 

 and larvae. Study of bottom organisms over the Georges Bank 

 was undertaken in order to determine the relationship between 

 the distribution of fish to the availability of the food supply. 

 Various types of gear, such as scoops, dredges, and a ring net 

 mounted on a sled were used to collect animals attached to, or 

 burrowing in the bottom and those which live in water close to 

 the bottom. Tools of research were augmented by the use of 

 an underwater television camera, the specifications for which 

 were drawn up by the electronics equipment specialist who was 

 added to the Laboratory staff. 



For the preparation of a treatise on oyster biology, 

 several physiological and histological studies were made 

 regarding the structure and function of the mantle, labial 

 palps, and gills. On the basis of physiological and ecological 

 investigations, a method was advanced for a quantitative 

 evaluation of oyster bottoms. With the cooperation of the Vv'est 

 Chatham, Mass. oystermen, an experimental study of raft 

 culture of oysters was undertaken in Oyster Pond River near 

 Chatham, Mass. This project demonstrated that oysters 

 suspended from a raft may reach marketable size in 2-1/2 

 years instead of the usual 4 or 5 years, and that their mortality 

 due to drills and other enemies may be reduced to a minimum. 

 The method is particularly suitable to the inshore waters of 

 Cape Cod which are well protected from storms and surf. 



Efforts for complete rehabilitation of the Station initiated 

 after the hurricane of 1944 by the Director of the Fish and Wildlife 

 Service, A. M. Day, and continued by his successor John L, 

 Farley brought results in 1955 when Congress voted $930, 000 for 

 the replacement of the old buildings with a modern laboratory and 

 aquarium. The reconstruction of the breakwater and rebuilding 



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