34 Report of the Board of Shell Fish Commissioners. 



KENT COUNTY. 



INTRODUCTION. 



The waters within the territorial limits of Kent County and the 

 waters contiguous to the county, in which natural oyster bars were 

 surveyed and examined in 1909, include the part of Chester river 

 above its deep water channel (the Kent-Queen Anne County bound- 

 ary line*) ; the tributaries of the Chester river which enter it from 

 the north ; the waters designated in this report as East Neck bay ; 

 Swan creek, and that section of the Chesapeake bay adjacent to 

 Kent County which lies east of the line* marking the mid-bay chan- 

 nel between the Kent-Queen Anne's County boundary line, ex- 

 tended,* and a line connecting Handys Point, at the mouth of Wor- 

 ton creek, with the northernmost point of Pooles Island. 



Within these waters sixty- four natural oyster bars, aggregating 

 a total area of 12,809 acres, have been charted and buoyed and 

 reserved to the public oyster fishery of the State. 



The oyster bars lying within the section of the bay contiguous to 

 Kent County, exclusive of Swan point bar,f are designated for the 

 use of dredgers. They are eight in number and cover 2,880 acres. 



The oyster bars in all other waters in Kent County, including 

 Swan point bar, are reserved for the exclusive vise of tongmen. 

 They are fifty-six in number and cover 9,920 acres. 



Statistical tables are printed on pages44~47,in which maybe found 

 the name, date of survey, area and condition of each bar at the 

 time it was examined and the quantity of oysters each bar may be 

 expected to yield during the season of 1910-1911. 



In none of the localities in which conditions favorable to the 

 growth of oysters are constant, were the oyster grounds found to 

 be seriously depleted from over-fishing, but in those localities where 

 certain natural conditions are adverse to the growth of ovsters 



* The exact locations of these lines are shown on Charts of Natural Oyster 

 Bars, Nos. 28, 29 and 30, and their technical descriptions are given in a report 

 entitled "Survey of Oyster Bars of Kent County," to be published by the U. S. 

 Coast and Geodetic Survey and filed in the office of the Board of Shell Fish 

 Commissioners and with the Clerk of the Court of Kent County. 



t Section 19 of Article 72 o fthe Code of Public General Laws prohibits the 

 use of dredges within one and one-half miles of Swan Point bar. 



