LX REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
tributary to the Gulf of Maine, and the fishery first becomes important 
on the southern New England coast, where the beds have been greatly 
enlarged by the planting of both native and Southern seed. New York 
has shared with Connecticut in the impetus recently given to this ready 
system of oyster- culture; in New Jersey the fishery is extensive, and in 
Maryland and Virginia the natural resources have afforded advantages 
superior to those of any other States. Farther south, however, while 
important fisheries exist in some localities, the industry may be said 
still to await development. The natural conditions are favorable nearly 
everywhere, and the thick growths of “coon” or wild oysters, forming 
a broad fringe along the coast, constitute a supply of seed which 
appears to be inexhaustible. 
In spite of the great prosperity of the oyster fishery at the north, 
resulting from the recent enactment of judicious laws, it has certain 
serious drawbacks, which tend to reduce the profits and threaten to some 
extent its future welfare. In the salt waters of New England and New 
York the drills and starfish are most persistent and destructive enemies 
of the oyster, doing an amount of damage to the beds which it is difficult 
to calculate. Enemies of this character give practically little trouble 
in Chesapeake Bay, but under the present system of administering upon 
the fishery there the production of the grounds is rapidly falling off from 
year to year, sufficient inducements not being offered to supplement the 
natural supply by the artificial extension of the beds. Oyster- culture, 
properly so called, the production of spat by aid of artificial methods, 
has, moreover, never been resorted to. in this country, in consequence of 
the fact that the practical utility and economy of any proposed system 
has yet to be established. As the scarcity of seed is one of the greatest 
difficulties now encountered by the oyster-planter, this subject offers an 
interesting field for investigation. 
The above statements plainly indicate in what channels the inquiry 
may be directed to best advantage for the oyster fishery. The oyster- 
men of New England and New York desire to learn by what means, if 
any, their beds may be preserved from the attacks of drills and star- 
fishes; in the Chesapeake, the wisdom of some system of individual 
responsibility for the condition and abundance of the crop must be 
demonstrated practically; in more southern waters, the best man- 
ner of utilizing the wild stock should be determined and a system of 
oyster-culture applicable to all parts of the coast should be developed. 
For the prosecution of these inquiries the several States have looked 
to the General Government as being the best equipped for that purpose, 
and also in view of the fact that the questions at issue are not limited 
In their application to any one State. Experiments respecting oyster- 
culture w~ere conducted by the Fish Commission in Chesapeake Bay 
during several years, but they were temporarily discontinued before a 
final solution of the matter had been reached. Outside of these re- 
searches and the methods and statistics of the business, the Fish Com- 
