696 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [24] 



The oyster deposits of the river Auray are fally three leagues in 

 length. They extend from the mill of Poulben and the chapel of Saint- 

 Avoye to the canal leading into the salt marshes of Coat-Courzo, and 

 form an unbroken series of beds covering an area of more than three 

 hundred hectares. 



In the river of La Trinity, near by, which is also called the Crach 

 Kiver, are also found numerous beds of oysters, but the accumulations 

 here are not so extensive. 



The beginnings of oyster-culture in this part of the Morbihan date 

 back a dozen years. The development which has taken place in this 

 time is not to be attributed to private enterprise alone. The i)art 

 played by the administration has been considerable. The legislative 

 restrictions enacted encountered at first much opposition among the 

 fishermen, for their principal object was naturally the preservation of 

 the beds which were being pillaged without restraint and without dis- 

 cretion. 



What would have become of the oyster industry at Auray and La 

 Triuit6 if these beds, which to-day make the fortune of the parqueurs, 

 had disappeared? 



As has been so judiciously stated by M. Platel, who has published a 

 most complete and accurate account of oyster-culture in the Morbihan, 

 from which I have derived most valuable suggestions, we cannot too 

 often recall how necessary was the perseverance and the solicitude of 

 the maritime administration of Lorient, Vannes, and Auray, in order to 

 preserve the foundations of this wealth scattered in the rivers of the 

 Morbihan. 



My report upon Auray would certainly be incomplete if it did not bear 

 testimony to the zeal of M. Coste, the Commissioner of Maritime Inscrip- 

 tion, whose praise is in every mouth. This distinguished functionary, 

 prompted by the spirit of his official instructions, has everywhere 

 lavished encouragement and advice. 



It would be impracticable for me in this brief narrative to review all 

 the establishments of the River Auray. I will take as a model the 

 establishment of M. de Th^venard, one of the most complete and the 

 best organized as regards reproduction, and which I have perhaps 

 studied more carefully than the others. 



Establishment of M. de Th:6venard. — The site of the estab- 

 lishment of M. de Th6venard, the mayor of Auray, is at a place called 

 Le Rocher. The concession comprises pares for reproduction and claires 

 for the growing and sheltering of the oyster. The pares are established, 

 some upon bottoms where the mud is three or four meters in depth, and 

 the others upon firmer soil. 



Buildings erected upon the banks of the river serve as workrooms 

 where the processes of separating and assorting the oysters and coat- 

 ing the tiles with whitewash is carried on, and also as storehouses for 

 the nursing frames. 



