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  EEPOET 
  OF 
  COMMISSIONER 
  OF 
  FISH 
  AND 
  FISHERIES. 
  

  

  the 
  places 
  last 
  named 
  and 
  as 
  was 
  found 
  in 
  WAesocking- 
  Ba}^ 
  in 
  Novem- 
  

   ber, 
  1900. 
  

  

  The 
  food 
  supply 
  in 
  section 
  16 
  differed 
  very 
  much 
  from 
  that 
  in 
  either 
  

   section 
  10 
  or 
  the 
  Beaufort 
  region. 
  The 
  inshore 
  beds 
  also 
  differed 
  

   considerably 
  in 
  this 
  respect 
  from 
  those 
  in 
  deeper 
  water. 
  On 
  the 
  off- 
  

   shore 
  beds 
  during- 
  January 
  and 
  February 
  the 
  oysters 
  were 
  living 
  

   chiefly 
  on 
  diatoms 
  {Melosira 
  sp. 
  ?, 
  Coscinodicus 
  perforatim^ 
  Pleuro- 
  

   sigma 
  spencerii., 
  and 
  Navicula 
  lyarca)^ 
  with 
  a 
  much 
  smaller 
  bulk 
  of 
  the 
  

   same 
  species 
  of 
  Peridinea? 
  mentioned 
  as 
  having 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  section 
  

   10, 
  but, 
  as 
  the 
  table 
  shows, 
  the 
  food 
  on 
  the 
  inshore 
  beds 
  consisted 
  

   mainly 
  of 
  Peridinea, 
  the 
  water 
  swarming 
  with 
  these 
  plants. 
  

  

  While 
  the 
  oysters 
  on 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  tonging 
  grounds 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  

   unworked 
  beds 
  in 
  deep 
  water 
  are 
  frequently 
  poor 
  during 
  the 
  oystering 
  

   season, 
  it 
  does 
  not 
  necessarily 
  follow 
  that 
  the 
  food 
  supply 
  is 
  at 
  fault, 
  

   for 
  on 
  the 
  beds 
  just 
  mentioned 
  the 
  oysters 
  are 
  not 
  only 
  ver}^ 
  numerous 
  

   and 
  closely 
  crowded, 
  but 
  each 
  oyster 
  is 
  literally 
  covered 
  with 
  mussels, 
  

   the 
  diet 
  of 
  which 
  is 
  the 
  same 
  as 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  oyster. 
  One 
  hundred 
  

   mussels 
  is 
  not 
  an 
  unusual 
  number 
  to 
  find 
  attached 
  to 
  a 
  single 
  oyster 
  

   on 
  such 
  beds, 
  and 
  since 
  the 
  water 
  must 
  pass 
  the 
  mouths 
  of 
  all 
  these 
  

   mussels 
  before 
  reaching 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  the 
  oyster 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  surprising 
  

   that 
  there 
  is 
  not 
  enough 
  food 
  for 
  all. 
  

  

  