XLIV ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



mile in length, but it has been completely destroyed by mussel mud 

 dig-gers/' 



Mr. Ernesit Kemp, in a later report, made special reference to the 

 beds in the more northerly part of the bay, the part, indeed, which is 

 receiving principal attention from the staff at the Biological Station. 

 The report states that " on the northern portion of Richmond Bay, 

 abreast of Curtain Island, the oysters are of a very fine quality and of 

 large size; they are taken from deep beds, and are becoming very valu- 

 able. Large oyster beds are found in this locality in deep water (from 

 20 to 26 feet), where it is almost impossible to use tongs on account 

 of the depth and current of the tides. I cannot see that dredging in 

 moderation does any hann to these beds, but would improve, cleanse 

 and extend them if a limited time were given to dredge them to fisher- 

 men who choose to catch oysters by that method. Oyster beds that have 

 been previously dredged upon in this locality are now covered with 

 small oysters, the most noticeable are the Sand, or Long bed, and the 

 Townsend, or 40-acre patch; both these beds are now covered with small 

 oysters, too small for market, and several fishermen state that dredging 

 is the cause of the spat settling there, as the shells have been raked over 

 and cleansed." 



The productiveness and excellence of these oyster areas has been 

 abundantly demonstrated by the thorough investigations carried on 

 under Professor E. Eanisay "Wright's skilled superintendence in 1903. 

 The work detailed below will, without doubt, do much to improve the 

 famous oyster beds in question, and will form an object-lesson for 

 similar work on other favourable areas along the shores of the Maritime 

 Provinces. The oyster industry of the Dominion has sunk to a low ebb, 

 compared with the flourishing and remunerative sitate which it might 

 readily attain. When it is recalled that so long ago as the reign of 

 William IV. an Act was passed to put a stop to the practice of actually 

 burning live oysters in order to produce lime for fertilizing farm lands, 

 and it is barely twenty years since an eminent resident in Prince Edward 

 Island, who affirmed that practically the whole shore of Prince Edward 

 Island, fringed with innumerable creeks, the so-called mouths of rivers, 

 present conditions under wliich oysters, from time immemorial, have 

 propagated and prospered, did not hesitate to declare that it is only a 

 question of a few years when the famous oyster industry would be a 

 thing of the past. As an official report states: — 



" Only about $150,000 are annually produced in the provinces of 

 Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, fully two- 

 thirds of which are taken in the last-named province. It is claimed 



