TRANSPLANTING ATLANTIC OYSTERS TO THE PACIFIC 129 



Comparison with readings on the Atlantic coast (see page 92) will 

 show that lobsters as well as oysters may be confidently expected to thrive 

 in the Pacific if put out with proper care. In Richmond bay, P.E.I., the 

 great centre for the oyster, there a,re several lobster factories. Everybody 

 connected with fishery pursuits should know that in a body of sea-water 

 of a few fathoms depth the bottom has a greater salinity than the surface, 

 which, along with its lower temperature, is an advantage to the lobster 

 to a greater extent than to the oyster, the former preferring off-shore 

 areas, but the latter keeping near land. Both Atlantic and Pacific oysters 

 are brackish-water species to a much greater extent than the European 

 species. 



Government action in transplanting Prince Edward Island seed and 

 brood oysters to suitable selected areas of the British Columbia coast, 

 under trustworthy surveillance, would doubtless go a long way towards 

 settling our most reputable variety of shell-fish in those regions, and 

 towards the preparation for a greater productivity of marine food for the 

 future inhabitants of the province. The greatest and most rapid results 

 would be reached by private enterprise, because of the greater attention 

 and protection received by the oysters. In Nanoose bay, judging from 

 the new posts put down to mark the limits of prospective planting areas 

 by Webster, Wallis, and others, there are already indications of a desire 

 to enter into private oyster culture. 



