The inference may be made also from these data that in 1945 

 the Pearl River Basin did not contribute sufficient fresh water to have 

 caused excessive mortalities by itself. The only references found in 

 the literature to oyster mortalities in the past caused by the Pearl 

 River were based on inadequate sampling. However, Weatherby in 1927, 

 and Viosca in 1937 noted mortalities of 10 per cent or leas, which 

 they attributed to fresh water from this source. 



Rates of water discharge are made at the Pearl River Basin 

 stations by recording the height of a wire weight gauge. The highest 

 stages noted in the past occurred in 1874 and 1900 when gauge heights 

 were estimated to be 20.2 and 19.7 feet respectively. It is noteworthy 

 that in the first six months of 1949, the recorded guage height exceeded 

 19 feet on 61 days and exceeded 20 feet on 2 days. Greological Survey 

 engineers attributed this increased discharge rate entirely to increased 

 rainfall in the drainage basin. 



REHABILITATION OF OTSTER REEFS 



In discussing the rehabilitation of the oyster areas exaioined, 

 there are several points which must be taken into consideration. In 

 the natural course of events an oyster bar rehabilitates Itself pro- 

 vided there is an adequate amount of cultch present, that there is a 

 good setting and growing rate, that too intensive harvesting is not 

 practised, and that further natural disasters do not occur. Depend- 

 ing on the interaction of these factors, rehabilitation will require 

 from 2 to 5 years, possibly longer. Much of Mississippi Sound usually 

 provides a good natural environment for oysters and now, as is to be 

 expected after four years, a major part of the natural rehabilitation 

 possible has already taken place on those bars damaged in 1945. The 

 passage of time has made extensive cleaxilng operations, removing the 

 debris and dead shells from the bottoms no longer necessary. The 

 unusually high natural setting rate of yovmg oysters in the past few 

 years in most of these areas shows that cultch in the foim of clean 

 oyster shells is the only thing necessary to bring about a complete 

 restoration of the reefs. Along the GxilS Coast the cost of planting 

 shells varies from 40 to 50 cents a barrel, so that adequate shell 

 plantings may be carried out at a unit cost of approximately $125,00 

 per acre. However, the planting of email seed oysters, which are 

 available to some extent, may be done for slightly increased costs. 

 The planting of seed would shorten the period of restoration by 1 

 to 3 years, depending on the size of the oysters planted. 



Rehabilitation of the oyster reefs, then, is or can be an 

 accomplished fact. An item of equal importance is whether or not it 

 is desirable to bring about further rehabilitation and replant the 

 beds. That is to say, is there justification for spending federeil, 



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