PROGRESS IN BIOLOGIUAL INQUIRIES, 1938 59 
In the second place, variations in local water conditions must be 
understood so that advantage may be taken of those areas where 
growth and fattening occur most readily. On account of the long 
spawning season resulting from high water temperature, fattening 
occurs very late in the season. Southern growers are thus placed 
at a disadvantage in supplying fat oysters early in the season when 
the market is usually most favorable. Finally, methods must be 
devised for using suitable bottom below low-water mark. Under 
natural conditions, oyster spat attach themselves only between high 
and low water marks, with consequent restriction not only in the 
areas available for cultivation. but also in the number of hours the 
oyster may remain open for feeding. 
In view of the importance of these and related problems to the 
Southern oyster industry, on November 1 the Bureau began an ex- 
amination of available tidal sireams in Beaufort County, S. C., with 
the view of selecting several areas suitable for small experimental 
oyster farms of several acres each. This work, in cooperation with 
the South Carolina State Board of Fisheries, was carried out by 
R. O. Smith, and several localities were marked for experimentation. 
During 1939, various types of bottom will be tested to determine 
the most suitable treatment for seed and market oysters, and ex- 
periments will be carried out to find practical methods of seed col- 
lection on a small commercial scale. 
Oyster investigations on the Gulf coast—The oyster industry of 
the Gulf coast in general has for several years been in a relatively 
unsatisfactory condition, owing in part to the fact that it depends 
largely upon natural oyster beds which have been depleted by pred- 
ators and by too intensive harvesting. The problems will apparently 
have to be solved by establishing oyster farms on privately leased or 
owned grounds and by studying the fundamental biological problems 
concerned before the industry of the coast can be conducted economi- 
cally. 
The program of oyster investigations which has been undertaken 
at the Pensacola (Fla.) Laboratory consists primarily of the follow- 
ing phases: (1) Establishment of an experimental oyster farm on a 
semicommercial scale to determine rates of growth and fattening, 
productivity annually per unit of bottom, and costs of production, 
including a study of natural hazards and predators of the Gulf 
coast. It is planned to compare the results with those of similar 
projects conducted by the Bureau in Atlantic waters. (2) Experi- 
mental laboratory and field studies of factors influencing the growth 
and fattening of oysters under conditions characteristic of most 
oyster-producing areas of the Gulf-coast, particularly with reference 
to fluctuations in salinity. 
Pending establishment of the experimental oyster farm, Dr. A. E. 
Hopkins has been working in close cooperation with the Florida 
Department of Conservation and the Works Progress Administration 
in a program of oyster planting and rehabilitation of exhausted 
natural beds in portions of Pensacola Bay. Observations to date 
indicate that East Pensacola Bay is very favorable for experimental 
study. Programs were also organized for the rehabilitation of 
natural oyster grounds in Apalachicola Bay, St. Andrews Bay, and 
Choctawhatchee Bay. In addition Dr. Hopkins made a number 
of trips to Mobile Bay at the request of the Alabama Oyster Com- 
