2 U. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



The first section of the northwest coast surveyed extended from 

 the mouth of the Siuslaw River, in Lane Count}^, Oreg., to Tillamook 

 Ba}^, in Tillamook County, of the same State. This survey was made 

 during a period of 17 days and included a hasty investigation of the 

 location and distribution of beds of clams and mussels, the determi- 

 nation of the species of shellfish contained therein, and other infor- 

 mation and observations which might serve as a basis for later and 

 more intensive work. 



Among the rivers and bays of more or less importance in shellfish 

 resources, this stretch of coast line includes the Siuslaw Eiver. one 

 of the larger rivers of Oregon, the Yachats River with a small bay 

 at its mouth, Alsea Bay, the Yaquina River and Bay, Siletz Bay, 

 Nestugga Bay, Netarts Bay, and Tillamook Bay. Besides the above, 

 long or short sand beaches alternate with rocky points and rugged 

 headlands, each serving as habitats for certain forms of shellfish. 



The above coast line was traversed, for the most part, on foot, as 

 that seemed to be the most efficient means of acquiring the desired 

 information relative to the location and distribution of species of 

 shellfish. This region of the Oregon coast, as can be said of prac- 

 tically the entire length of it, is very sparsely settled, with public 

 roads paralleling the coast line either in very poor condition or absent 

 altogether. In not a few places the public highway is the sand beach, 

 a splendid roadway at low tide but dangerous or quite impassable at 

 high tide. Trails may usually be found leading over or around 

 headlands, but frequently these are overgrown and indistinct, due to 

 lack of use. 



The principal villages and settlements throughout the extent of 

 the Oregon coast from the Siuslaw River to Tillamook Bay include 

 the town of Florence on the Siuslaw River, about 4 miles from its 

 mouth, a few scattering houses at Heceta Head, the village of 

 Yachats at the mouth of the Yachats River, the town of Waldport 

 on Alsea Bay, Newport on Yaquina Bay, Taft on Siletz Ba}^, Pacific 

 City on Nestugga Bay, Netarts on Netarts Bay, and Tillamook City 

 on Tillamook Bay. Interspersed with the settlements mentioned 

 above are a few ranch houses where the nature of the immediate 

 coastal region permits farming on a small scale. 



The physical conditions, the settlements, and the means of com- 

 munication of the above section are mentioned in detail, as these facts 

 have considerable bearing upon the accessibility or lack of accessi- 

 bility, as the case may be, of certain shellfish resources on this coast, 

 and their values as market products. 



At later periods during the summer, fall, and winter of 1917 sur- 

 veys were made of the southern shore of the State of Oregon to a 

 distance of about 5 miles south of Bandon, a town at the mouth of 

 the Coquille River, with special attention given to the Coos Bay 

 region. Investigations of the northwest section of the coast of Ore- 

 gon were also made during 1917 and also the following year. These 

 latter surveys extended from Tillamook Bay northward, including 

 the Nehalem coast beaches, Cannon Beach, the Clatsop County 

 beaches, opposite the towns of Seaside and Gearheart, and on to the 

 mouth of the Columbia River. Surveys were also made of the 

 beaches on the Washington coast up to Willapa Bay, The shellfish 

 resources of this bay were investigated, approaching it from both 



