40 OYSTER BOTTOMS OF MISSISSIPPI EAST OF BILOXI. 



scattering growth areas of Biloxi Bay. On the parts of the beds 

 where the large oysters are most abundant the numerical proportion 

 of small oysters to large ones ranges from equality on the small 

 patches in Biloxi Bay to about 17 to 1 on West Pascagoula Reef. 

 Where the larger oysters are fewer the proportion is generally higher, 

 reaching about 228 to 1 on the so-called depleted part of West Pas- 

 cagoula lleef, where marketable oysters are practically absent. The 

 young oysters are, therefore, present on practically all of the beds 

 in sufficient numbers to insure the continuance of the present content 

 of market oysters, and the production of some of the beds, especially 

 those in the vicinity of Pascagoula, should be increased by a judicious 

 removal of some of the young. 



5. The demand for oysters in Mississippi is in excess of the present 

 supply of good stock. \^Tiile some of the natural beds in the region 

 east of Biloxi may be improved by rational treatment, it is not 

 believed that they can fill requirements. They may supply some of 

 the demand for canncr}^ purposes, w^hich do not require the highest 

 quality, but they can not satisfactorily filJ the demand for the shuck- 

 ing and shell trade. 



6. To satisfy this demand for an increased supply, and especially 

 for a better quahty than the natural beds produce, the State should 

 enact such legislation as will permit and encourage commercial experi- 

 ments in oyster culture on the present barren bottoms. There are 

 withm the limits of the siirve}^ upward of 23,000 acres of bottom^ 

 now worthless but apparently suitable in stabihty and other require- 

 ments for oyster culture. These bottoms, if experiment should con- 

 firm favorable opinion as to their utility, constitute a valuable asset 

 of the State now wasted for lack of legal authority for their rental. 

 This defect in the oyster laws should be corrected. 



7. The Gulf coast in general has advantage over the more northern 

 oyster-producing States in its milder climate, which is less likely to 

 impose interruption to the fishery. It has the disadvantage of afford- 

 ing a somewhat shorter season, owing to the shorter term of cool 

 weather in which oysters can be handled without spoiling. In respect 

 to transportation to a large part of the interior population, it is more 

 favorably situated than are the States of the Atlantic seaboard. It 

 should also have some advantage in the shipment of seed oysters to a 

 considerable part of the Pacific coast. 



8. The production of spat is more to be depended on than in the 

 great oyster-producing States of the North, in some of which the set 

 is liable to fail for several years in succession, entailing serious loss 

 on the planters. Moreover, growth is in general more rapid, and 

 marketable 03'sters are produced in half the time required on some 

 of the northern grounds. 



