60 OYSTEK BOTTOMS OF MISSISSIPPI SOUND, ALA. 



rigors of winter and therefore less subject to interruption than in the 

 North, but on the other hand with a shorter season owing to the late 

 fall and early spring. They have the further advantage that a yearly 

 set of spat is assured and the growth much more rapid than in other 

 waters. The enemies to contend with are no worse than in many 

 places in the North, but in the inshore waters there is possibly more 

 frequent damage from freshets. 



8. The sparse population on the shores near the oyster bottoms 

 renders the oysters little subject to injurious pollution from drainage 

 and sewage discharges. This consideration is an important asset at 

 a time when the spread of infection through oysters is a matter of 

 such widespread public concern, and for business reasons, if for no 

 others, the cleanliness of the beds and the treatment of the oysters 

 should be jealously safeguarded. For this reason the process of 

 floating, freshening, or ^'fattening" the oysters should be rigorously 

 supervised and absolutely prohibited if streams or other waters 

 receiving a sewage discharge or similar contamination are utilized for 

 the purpose. Not only the State oyster commission and boards of 

 health but the oystermen themselves should see that nothmg is done 

 to jeopardize public health. Aside from the moral aspect of the 

 matter the future of the oyster industry depends largely on a main- 

 tenance of the reputation of its product for cleanliness and whole- 

 eomeness. 



9. One of the most valuable and certainly the most enduringly 

 valuable results of the survey is the establishment of permanently 

 marked and accurately determined triangulation points by the 

 United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, supplemented by a few 

 estabhshed by the Bureau of Fisheries. In all future surveys of 

 leased bottoms, these should be utilized and the corners of the lease- 

 holds determined by reference to them. A strict and consistent 

 compHance with this recommendation will prevent disputes and 

 litigation should oyster planting become as important as it has in 

 other places and it will insure accuracy in the surveys, guaranteeing 

 an honest return to the State from the rental of its barren bottoms. 



