REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. CIII 



It is tboiigbt that two or three years will be required to coiiiplete this 

 work, which was in active progress at the close of the year. The inquir- 

 ies will exteud to each stream in or near which fishing is done or in 

 which salmon are found, and will relate to the physical characters of 

 the stream; the species of salmon entering it, the time and duration of 

 their run, their relative abundance; the spawning time, habits, and 

 grounds of each species; natural and artificial obstructions to the 

 passage of fish upstream; the methods of fishing in their relation to the 

 maintenance of the supply; the general iish-fauua in each stream and 

 its relations to salmon, and tlie extent of the fishing, canning, and 

 salting business. 



INQUIRIES AND EXPERIMENTS RELATIVE TO OYSTERS. 



Among the questions of vital interest to oyster-growers in tlie United 

 States are the following : (1) Under the prevailing economic conditions, 

 is it possible to profitably fatten oysters in artificial ponds or claires? 

 (2) Is it commercially practicable to breed oysters in ponds so as to 

 furnish a supply of seed in regions where it can not be raised with 

 regularity by the ordinary means now employed? These subjects the 

 Commission had under consideration during the fiscal year, but it was 

 not possible to take up both, owing to the limited force available for 

 such inquiries. The question of the feasibility of breeding oysters in 

 inclosed or semi-inclosed ponds was deferred for the present, and the 

 matter of fattening oysters was taken up because of its more widespread 

 and immediate importance. 



■- Observation and inquiry have shown that in a number of localities 

 planters have encountered yearly increasing difficulty in bringing 

 their oysters to such, a condition as to yield the best financial returns. 

 This difficulty is especially manifested in regions in which there has 

 been a heavy increase in the area of the planted beds, and is appar- 

 ently due to the inadequacy of the water to support the luxuriant 

 micro- vegetation which is necessary to supply oysters with food. The 

 problem for the oyster- grower, therefore, is to increase the oyster-food- 

 produciug powers of the water. It is evident that this can not be 

 undertaken to advantage in the open waters of bays and bayous in 

 which the oysters are grown, and the question resolves itself into the 

 feasibility of some method of pond culture. Recognizing this, exjieri- 

 ments were begun in May, 1897, in Lynnhaven River, A^rginia, under 

 the charge of Dr. H. F. Moore. A cove having an area of over an acre 

 was inclosed by a substantial dam, so as to exclude the tides, and three 

 small ponds were constructed for the conduct of check experiments. 

 Tests are being made, by varying the temperature, density, and the 

 chemical composition of the water, to determine the most favorable 

 conditions for the development of the microscopic organisms upon 

 which the oysters feed. At the close of the fiscal year the actual 

 experiments had been in operation but a short time and the results can 

 not yet be stated. 



