﻿278 
  REPORT 
  OF 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  

  

  mainl}'^ 
  done 
  from 
  launches. 
  The 
  State 
  oyster 
  police 
  boat 
  LiUie 
  

   assisted 
  in 
  making- 
  the 
  examinations 
  of 
  the 
  oyster 
  beds 
  by 
  towing- 
  the 
  

   dredge 
  boat 
  Varina 
  over 
  them. 
  Since 
  Winslow's 
  survey 
  numerous 
  

   extensive 
  beds 
  of 
  oysters 
  have 
  been 
  discovered 
  in 
  the 
  deeper 
  water 
  of 
  

   the 
  section, 
  and 
  some 
  of 
  these 
  also 
  were 
  examined. 
  

  

  The 
  Fish 
  Haiv'kh 
  work 
  showed 
  that 
  while 
  the 
  beds 
  which 
  were 
  

   known 
  and 
  charted 
  by 
  Winslow 
  have 
  probably 
  not 
  been 
  reduced 
  in 
  

   area, 
  they 
  have 
  been 
  so 
  depleted 
  of 
  03'sters 
  and 
  cultch 
  that 
  they 
  yield 
  

   a 
  nuich 
  smaller 
  percentage 
  of 
  oysters 
  than 
  formerly, 
  some 
  of 
  them 
  

   practically 
  nothing-. 
  The 
  beds 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  furnishing- 
  the 
  greater 
  

   part 
  of 
  the 
  oysters 
  in 
  more 
  recent 
  years 
  are 
  located 
  over 
  2 
  miles 
  from 
  

   shore 
  and 
  have 
  been 
  discovered 
  recently 
  hj 
  the 
  dredgers. 
  Inquiries 
  

   made 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Stevenson 
  showed 
  that 
  the 
  beds 
  now 
  known 
  in 
  the 
  sec- 
  

   tion 
  cover 
  an 
  area 
  ten 
  to 
  twenty 
  times 
  that 
  of 
  iha 
  beds 
  charted 
  by 
  

   Winslow, 
  making 
  the 
  present 
  area 
  of 
  the 
  natural 
  beds 
  of 
  Hj^de 
  County 
  

   from 
  18,080 
  to 
  30,164: 
  acres. 
  Winslow 
  gives 
  the 
  possible 
  area 
  of 
  bot- 
  

   tom 
  in 
  section 
  16 
  available 
  and 
  suitable 
  for 
  o^^ster 
  culture 
  as 
  38,315 
  

   acres. 
  At 
  present 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  possible 
  to 
  confirm 
  this 
  estimate, 
  but 
  

   determinate 
  results 
  are 
  hoped 
  for 
  from 
  experiments 
  now 
  being- 
  con- 
  

   ducted 
  by 
  the 
  State 
  of 
  North 
  Carolina 
  and 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  Fish 
  

   Commission 
  with 
  reference 
  to 
  the 
  possibilities 
  of 
  03^ster 
  culture, 
  either 
  

   private 
  or 
  public, 
  on 
  the 
  various 
  kinds 
  of 
  bottom 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  depths 
  of 
  

   water 
  afforded 
  by 
  Pamlico 
  Sound. 
  

  

  Damage 
  Ijy 
  storms. 
  — 
  All 
  along 
  the 
  marshy 
  shore 
  from 
  Shell 
  Point 
  

   to 
  Winslow's 
  signal 
  "Sherman" 
  was 
  found 
  an 
  unbroken 
  line 
  or 
  

   windrow 
  of 
  larg-e 
  bleached 
  oyster 
  and 
  mussel 
  shells, 
  the 
  hinges 
  of 
  

   which 
  were 
  still 
  intact. 
  These, 
  together 
  with 
  banks 
  of 
  sand, 
  had 
  been 
  

   thrown 
  up 
  on 
  the 
  edge 
  of 
  the 
  marsh 
  land 
  hy 
  the 
  waves 
  as 
  they 
  broke 
  

   on 
  the 
  Shell 
  Point 
  oj^ster 
  beds, 
  and 
  the 
  same 
  evidences 
  of 
  the 
  violence 
  

   of 
  the 
  wav^es 
  were 
  found 
  on 
  the 
  beach 
  at 
  Bhiff 
  Point 
  and 
  various 
  other 
  

   exposed 
  shores. 
  The 
  few 
  hundred 
  bushels 
  thus 
  thrown 
  entirely 
  out 
  

   of 
  the 
  water 
  v/ould 
  not, 
  of 
  course, 
  have 
  been 
  a 
  serious 
  loss 
  to 
  the 
  beds, 
  

   but 
  they 
  serve 
  to 
  give 
  some 
  idea 
  of 
  the 
  effect 
  of 
  a 
  severe 
  storm 
  on 
  a 
  

   bottom 
  composed 
  of 
  shifting 
  material, 
  and 
  they 
  are 
  no 
  doubt 
  but 
  an 
  

   insignificant 
  number 
  compared 
  to 
  those 
  covered 
  b}^ 
  the 
  bottom 
  as 
  it 
  

   was 
  torn 
  up 
  and 
  carried 
  before 
  the 
  storms. 
  The 
  oysters 
  that 
  were 
  

   entirely 
  covered 
  with 
  sand 
  perished 
  immediately, 
  and 
  those 
  only 
  partly 
  

   sanded 
  over 
  eventuall}^ 
  died. 
  It 
  was 
  very 
  common 
  in 
  February, 
  when 
  

   dredging, 
  to 
  bring 
  up 
  open-hinged 
  03'ster 
  shells 
  which 
  still 
  contained 
  

   the 
  body 
  of 
  an 
  oyster 
  nearly 
  or 
  quite 
  dead. 
  Such 
  individuals 
  were 
  

   always 
  so 
  i)oor 
  as 
  to 
  be 
  hardly 
  recognizable 
  as 
  03'sters; 
  their 
  bodies 
  

   were 
  shrunken 
  and 
  their 
  mantles 
  and 
  gills 
  clogged 
  with 
  the 
  sand 
  and 
  

   mud 
  which 
  had 
  oozed 
  in 
  wdth 
  every 
  attempt 
  to 
  feed. 
  Their 
  stomachs 
  

   were 
  entirely 
  empty. 
  The 
  presence 
  on 
  the 
  03^ster 
  beds 
  of 
  empt}^ 
  

   shells 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  hinge 
  was 
  still 
  unbroken 
  was 
  taken 
  as 
  evidence 
  of 
  

  

  