86 OYSTER BOTTOMS IN MATAGORDA BAY. 



Below and including Dog Island Reef the beds are generally in 

 good or fair condition, excepting Half Moon Reef, which was nearly 

 exhausted owing to overfishing and the lack of a set for several 

 years preceding. 



2. Taking into consideration the content of adults and the num- 

 ber of young oysters, it is estimated that the beds below and in- 

 cluding Dog Island Reef can not sustain a demand of much - * n r 

 125,000 barrels per annum for any considerable term of years, ;nd 

 not over 75,000 barrels per year ought to be taken from the beds 

 above Dog Island should they become fit to work. It must be under- 

 stood that this estimate is based on conditions at the time of the 

 survey and that the yield may fluctuate from year to year, but it is 

 believed that if much more than the estimated quantity be removed 

 year after year the beds will be exhausted. 



3. Owing to the settlement of the country and the improvement 

 of shipping facilities, the demand for oysters in the Matagorda Bay 

 region is increasing and at present is approaching closely the limit 

 that may be regarded as a safe yield of the natural beds above Half 

 Moon Reef. 



4. The time has now come when to provide for the legitimate ex- 

 pansion of the oyster business it will be necessary to supplement the 

 yield of the natural beds by a system of oyster culture under private 

 ownership. To this end there is no strongly opposed public senti- 

 ment, and the laws, with one or two defects, are reasonably good and 

 favorable. 



5. The natural conditions of densitj 7 , food, bottom, currents, etc., 

 are favorable over an area of the bay sufficient vastly to increase 

 the oyster product. Taking everything into consideration, the best 

 locality is on the peninsula side of the bay, near the edge of the sand 

 ■and outward between Snapper Rock and Crane signal, shown on the 

 chart. The bottom here is of moderately firm texture, the currents 

 flow with greater velocity than toward the prairie shore, the food 

 supply is good, and the salinity is higher than on the north shore 

 or above Dog Island Reef. On the firmer bottom seed oysters can 

 be planted, while the softer mud will support shells distributed to 

 catch the spat. It is believed that profitable beds can be established 

 in this region, and to a less extent immediately above Tiger Island 

 channel, but it will not suffice to employ the haphazard methods pre- 

 viously in vogue. If seed oysters are planted, they must be properly 

 culled and freed from debris. The reader is referred for a fuller 

 discussion of these matters to the preceding section of this report. 

 A description of the methods to be employed will be found in a pam- 

 phlet entitled " Oysters and Methods of Oyster Culture," which can be 

 obtained on application to the Bureau of Fisheries. 



O 



