124 RKPORT OP COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



])eds for fear of killino- the o^^sters as Avell as the fish, but near the 

 inlet, where the tish school at ebb tide. Two charges of 3 pounds each 

 are attached, 50 feet apart, to a conductor, towed over the schools of 

 tish, and exploded al)out -4 feet below the surface. On several occa- 

 sions from 100 to 200 lish have been destroyed at a single explosion, 

 and the survivors within a considerable radius of the disturbance are 

 appiii'cntly badly frightened. As the dynamiting takes place at a con- 

 siderable distance from the oyster beds and in the daytime, however, 

 while the lish appear to feed on the beds principally at night, it is by 

 no means certain that the effects will be very manifest in pre\enting 

 the destructive inroads. The most efficient way of pi'otecting the beds 

 would, of course, be to inclose them completely with nets or stockades, 

 but, owing to the large extent of the beds, to the naviga])lo character 

 of the water, and to the amount of material which drifts with the tide, 

 this plan is not feasible at Tuckerton. 



Some very extensive beds examined by Dr. Moore were found to be 

 practicallv depleted of oysters. In one case where 15,000 or 20,000 

 bushels had been planted, and the owner estimated the loss at 50 per 

 cent, an examination of areas selected at random indicated that 

 upwards of 80 per cent of oysters had been eaten ])y the drum-fish, and 

 nothing remained of them but a few ground-up fragments of shells. 

 On these same beds native seed, owing, dou])tless, to its much heavier 

 shell, had not been destroyed. Should the present efforts of the 

 oystermen to protect their beds prove unavailing, it seems probable 

 that the onl}" recourse is to abandon the use of the thin-shelled eastern 

 seed and restrict planting to heavy-shelled varieties. If the beds can 

 be efiicientl}' protected each year for a period of two or three months 

 .after they are planted, it is probable that no further trouble will 

 , occur, as by that time the seed oysters will be large enough to resist 

 the attacks of drum-fish. 



TKIP TO THE TlLE-FlSH GROUNDS. 



On July 28 the schooner Grampu,s, w^ith a ^mall party from tiie 

 Woods Hole Station, made a short trip to the tile-fish grounds lying 

 off' Ko Man's Land. 'I'hc grounds were n^ached during the night of 

 Jul}' 28-21>, and on the morning of the 29th four tul)s of trawls, baited 

 with squid, were set in water 65 to 70 fathoms deep, in latitude 40° 6' 

 north, longitude 70"^ 24' west, 70^ miles south and one-half mile east 

 from No Man's Land. One part of the trawl, owing to fouling, caught 

 no fish; the other, after being on the bottom for about two hours, was 

 hauled and fcnmd to have 62 fine fish, with an aggregate weight of about 

 700 pounds. The Gramjm.s returned to Woods Hole on ,1 uly 80, and the 

 fish were shipped to dealers in New York, Boston, and Gloucester, who 

 had expressinl u willingness to handh^ them and endeavor to create a 

 demand which would lead to the establishment of a regulai" lislun'v. 



The reports as to the food value of these fish coincide \vi(h those 



