886 REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. [2] 
susceptible of important developments; that it merited favorable atten- 
tion from the administration, and that the greater part of the reserved 
area could be turned over to oyster culture without any inconvenience 
whatever to the general interests. The minister, in accordance with 
propositions which I submitted to him upon this subject, decided on the 
28th of January, 1874, that all the grounds of the basin yet unoccupied 
should be placed at the disposal of private industry, and in addition a 
certain number of natural oyster-beds, which need to be taken care of, 
as they constitute breeding centers indispensable to the maintenance 
of the parks. 
In executing this decision, the first work of dividing the old reserved 
area was effected during the year 1874 and received the sanction of 
the ministry on the 19th of last December. Seven hundred and twenty- 
eight new parks were thus authorized at one time, and were added to 
the seventeen hundred and six oyster-cultural establishments already ex- 
isting in the basin. A second work of the same kind was also ap- 
proved by the minister, and a third will soon follow. At the same time 
concessions of ground were daily granted in all other parts of the basin 
and the great number of demands was not lessened. Furthermore, this 
progress in oyster culture is not limited to the basin of Arcachon. In 
Morbihan industry and capital favor it in a nearly equal degree. There 
also oyster culturists, finding the condition of the soil, climate, and loca- 
tions propitious, have, little by little, perfected their methods and ob- 
tained remarkable results. 
From these two centers of activity oyster culture radiates to a greater 
or less extent in all directions. It has been permanently established in 
the bay of Mount-Saint-Michel and on the sandy borders of the Vivier. 
It seems in a fair way of becoming re-established on the coast of the isl- 
and of Noirmoutiers and the island of Ré, where it had previously given 
great hopes of success at the time it was first started there; it is more 
prosperous than ever on the banks of the Seudre. Finally, it has be- 
come in many places the object of attempts which will, without doubt, 
prove partially successful. 
Aware of the deep interest taken in the coast fisheries by the Admiral 
Marquis of Montaignac, who, in 1850, was one of the commission under 
the presidency of the Count Chasseloup Laubat to prepare the penal 
laws of 1852, I have thought that at this time, when oyster culture has 
received a definite impulse, the minister would read with pleasure a de- 
tailed report of its origin, its first phases, and its present condition. I 
have, therefore, by the aid of documents collected at the bureau of fish- 
eries, prepared this report, which comprises the history of oyster culture 
and practical descriptions of the most perfected methods of cultivation 
practiced upon our shores. 
I have the honor to submit this work to the minister, and should he 
find it worthy of his approbation, I beg he will give it to the public as 
