124 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



beds for fear of killing- the oysters as #ell as the fish, but near the 

 inlet, where the fish school at ebb tide. Two charges of 3 pounds each 

 are attached, 50 feet apart, to a conductor, towed over the schools of 

 fish, and exploded about 4 feet below the surface. On several occa- 

 sions from 100 to 200 fish have been destro^^ed at a single explosion, 

 and the survivors within a considerable radius of the disturbance are 

 apparentl}^ badly frightened. As the dynamiting takes place at a con- 

 siderable distance from the oyster beds and in the daytime, however, 

 while the fish appear to feed on the beds principally at night, it is by 

 no means certain that the efi'ects will be very manifest in preventing 

 the destructive inroads. The most efficient way of protecting the beds 

 would, of course, be to inclose them completely with nets or stockades, 

 but, owing to the large extent of the beds, to the navigable character 

 of the water, and to the amount of material which drifts with the tide, 

 this plan is not feasible at Tuckerton. 



Some very extensive beds examined b}'^ Dr. Moore were found to be 

 practically depleted of oysters. In one case where 15,000 or 20,000 

 bushels had been planted, and the owner estimated the loss at 50 per 

 cent, an examination of areas selected at random indicated that 

 upwards of 80 per cent of oysters had been eaten by the drum-fish, and 

 nothing remained of them but a few ground-up fragments of shells. 

 On these same beds native seed, owing, doubtless, to its much heavier 

 shell, had not been destroyed. Should the present efforts of the 

 oystermen to protect their beds prove unavailing, it seems probable 

 that the only recourse is to abandon the use of the thin-shelled eastern 

 seed and restrict planting to heavy-shelled varieties. If the beds can 

 be efficiently pi'otected each year for a period of two or three months 

 after they are planted, it is probable that no further trouble will 

 occur, as by that time the seed oysters will be large enough to resist 

 the attacks of drum-fish, 



TRIP TO THE TILE-PISH GROUNDS. 



On July 28 the schooner Grampus^ with a 3mall party from the 

 Woods Hole Station, made a short trip to the tile-fish grounds lying 

 off' No Man's Land. The grounds were reached during the night of 

 July 28-29, and on the morning of the 29th four tubs of trawls, baited 

 with squid, were set in water 65 to 70 fathoms deep, in latitude 40° 6' 

 north, longitude 70° 24' west, 70^ miles south and one-half mile east 

 from No Man's Land. One part of the trawl, owing to fouling, caught 

 no fish; the other, after being on the bottom for about two hours, was 

 hauled and found to have 62 fine fish, with an aggregate weight of about 

 700 pounds. The Gramjms returned to Woods Hole on July 30, and the 

 fish were shipped to dealers in New" York, Boston, and Gloucester, who 

 had expressed a willingness to handle them and endeavor to create a 

 demand which would lead to the establishment of a regular fishery. 



The reports as to the food value of these fish coincide with those 



