PROGRESS IN BIOLOGICAL INQUIRIES, 1939 63 
SHELLFISH INVESTIGATIONS 
Dr. PAUL S. GALrsorr, in charge 
In accordance with the previously adopted program of the Bureau’s 
shellfish investigations, the research on oysters was conducted during 
the past calendar year with the following objectives: (1) To increase 
-our technical knowledge regarding the methods of propagation of 
oysters under various conditions of the coastal waters; (2) to find 
practical means of improving the quality of marketable oysters; (3) 
to improve the methods of protection of oysters against various pests 
and parasites; and (4) to determine the deleterious effects of polution 
and to devise methods of rendering certain trade wastes harmless to: 
oysters. Since the accumulation of technical knowledge remains use- 
less until the findings of the experts are brought to the attention of 
interested persons, considerable effort was made to disseminate the 
acquired information by preparing memoranda and pamphlets con- 
taining summaries of the most recent investigations, and distributing 
them among the oyster growers. : 
In comphance with the request of the local oystermen, the Bureau’s 
station at Milford, Conn., continued throughout the summer of 1939 
to issue weekly bulletins containing information concerning the con- 
dition of oyster gonads and the expected time of setting, and supplied 
detailed data concerning the distribution of starfish in Long Island 
Sound. Although these bulletins contained only local information 
pertaining to a small area along the Connecticut shore of the Sound, 
demands for them were received from oystermen operating in the 
States of New York, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts. 
As in the past, the Bureau’s investigations were greatly facilitated 
through the cooperation of the fellowing organizations: W. P. A., 
P. W. A., N. Y. A., Connecticut Shell Fish Commission, Virginia 
Commission of Fisheries, William and Mary College, North Caro- 
Jina Fish Commission, South Carolina State Board of Fisheries, 
Beaufort County Commissioners, and Florida Department of 
Conservation. 
Oyster-fishery studies were conducted at the Bureau of Fisheries 
Laboratories at Woods Hole, Mass.; Milford, Conn.; Yorktown, Va.; 
Beaufort, N. C., and Pensacola, Fla. Temporary headquarters for 
oyster-farming investigations were established also at Beaufort, S. C. 
In compliance with the requests of the United States War Depart- 
ment; Corps of Engineers, special surveys were made of the oyster 
bottoms in the upper part of Buzzards Bay, and in Narragansett 
Bay, for the purpose of determining the effect of dredging opera- 
tions on oysters. In cooperation with the Bureau of Construction 
and Repair, United States Navy, special observations on the fouling 
of ships’ bottoms were conducted at Langley Field, Va., and at the 
Bureau’s stations at Milford, Conn., and Pensacola, Fla. 
OYSTER-CULTURE STUDIES 
Woods Hole-——tLaboratory studies of the factors controlling the 
spawning of oysters, conducted for a number of summers by Dr. 
Galtsoff at the Woods Hole Station, were completed and the results 
of the findings, summarized in three technical papers, were pub- 
