EEPORT OP THE COMMISSIONER OP PISHERIES. 19 



man of the Delaware Oyster Survey Commission. The State de- 

 frayed part of the expenses for the employment of the temporary 

 assistants required, but most of the work was performed by the 

 regular personnel of the Bureau and the officers and crew of the 

 steamer Fish Haiok. 



The field work was finished on July 10 and the report, with two 

 charts, was issued February 10, 1911. The investigation was to 

 supplement a survey of the planted oyster beds being made by the 

 State, and the two together make a complete exhibit of the entire 

 oyster-producing bottoms of Delaware. 



In the course of the work on the natural beds 16,435 acres, or over 

 25 square miles, were explored with sounding lines and chains, and 

 2,144 acres were found to be occupied by oyster beds of varying 

 degrees of productiveness. 



The oyster beds, in addition to their mere location, were examined 

 in much detail to determine their condition, history, and prospects. 

 It was found that practically all of the beds on which an active fish- 

 ery had been prosecuted were showing more or less serious indications 

 of depletion, and some of them were practically obliterated. In some 

 cases this was due to natural causes, but in most instances the methods 

 of the fishery itself were responsible for the condition. The prime 

 factor involved was found to be the lax enforcement of the cull law 

 and the inefficient policing of the beds. The report called attention 

 to the defects in administration and indicated the remedies, and it 

 is hoped that the State will take cognizance of the dangers threaten- 

 ing an important industry and initiate the reforms necessary to guard 

 against them. 



Alabama and Mississippi. — As soon as possible after the comple- 

 tion of this work the Fish Hawk was dispatched to the Gulf of Mexico 

 for the conduct of similar investigations requested by the States of 

 Alabama and Mississippi. The vessel arrived at Mobile about the 

 beginning of Xovember and was constantly engaged in the survey 

 until May. The work was carried on in cooperation with the Coast 

 and Geodetic Survey, and its progress, despite adverse weather condi- 

 tions, and much of its enduring value are largely attributed to the 

 services rendered by that bureau in establishing the triangulation on 

 which the hydrographic and biological investigations of this Bureau 

 were based. 



The field of operations embraced part of the west side of Mobile 

 Bay and practically all of Mississippi Sound east of Biloxi, an area 

 of approximately 350 square miles. It was the most extensive work 

 of the kind ever undertaken by the Bureau, and embraced in addition 

 to the customary investigations of the natural oyster beds an examina- 

 tion of the barren bottoms in respect to their availability for oyster 

 culture. These examinations involved a study of the oyster food 



