OYSTER-BEDS OF LOUISIANA. 95 



In some cases the deposit of mud may be slight or the swiftness of 

 the currents of fresh water pouring out to sea may actually exert a 

 scouring action, carrying off the deposit of sediment which is normally 

 thrown down in the comparatively still waters of the bays and bayous, 

 and leaving the shells exposed and clean, even though the animals be 

 killed by the abnormal freshness of the water. 



When the deposit of mud is excessive the prospects for recuperation 

 are poor, as the young oysters, even though they be wafted on the cur- 

 rents into the devastated region, can find no place for attachment. On 

 the other hand, when the oysters are killed by the fresh water the shells 

 are often left in excellent condition to serve as cultch, and oyster fry 

 carried in from afar finds abundant facilities for fixation. This appears 

 to have been the case in St. Bernard Parish after the Nita crevasse, 

 and was certainly so in Plaquemines Parish after the breakage in the 

 levees at Bohemia. In the latter instance, soon after the subsidence 

 of the water, the spat began to set thickly upon the shells, and at the 

 time of our investigation there was a very dense growth of young on 

 all of the beds examined, although hardly an old one was to be found. 



As was found by conversation with oystermen at many places, there 

 is a general belief among them that a crevasse will always rehabilitate 

 an exhausted oyster region, owing to the production of oyster spawn by 

 the interaction of the fresh and salt waters. This idea is based upon 

 false reasoning from tbe facts just set forth. It is extremely improba- 

 ble, for instance, that the beds of Barataria Bay would be again ren- 

 dered productive by a crevasse, because there are but few oysters in the 

 vicinity to furnish the spawn, and the cultch, or material to which the 

 young could attach, has been almost destroyed by boring organisms of 

 several kinds. Without these the influence of the crevasse is of no 

 avail, as its benefits are in all probability due entirely to the mechan- 

 ical effects of the currents to which it gives rise. 



RECOMMENDATIONS. 



In consideration of the observations and conclusions set forth in the 

 foregoing report the following recommendations are made: 



1. That no oysters be permitted to be removed from the natural beds 

 for any purpose whatever during the period from April 15 to October 1. 



This regulation is intended not so much to protect the spawning 

 oysters, which would, of course, result incidentally, as to protect at 

 least some of the young oysters from injury at a time when they are 

 exceedingly delicate and when, owing to their small size and fragility, 

 it is almost impossible to cull them from the marketable oysters as 

 defined by the culliug laws. By allowing them an additional month's 

 growth, under the favorable conditions obtaining in Louisiana, a larger 

 number should have reached a size permitting of their detachment from 

 their places of fixation. 



2. No oysters, wheresoever caught, should be sold or exposed to sale 

 within the close season as fixed in the preceding section. 



