REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 179 

 EASTERN OYSTERS IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY. 



This industry has reached large proportions. From 1887 to 1000 

 more than 11,000 tons of eastern yearling seed oysters have been 

 shipped to the ba}^ of San Francisco and laid out for further growth. 

 The time required for seed oysters to become marketable is from two 

 to four years, according to the sizes demanded by Pacific Coast 

 consumers. The beds of transplanted oysters occupy flats or tide 

 lands and are exposed during the lowest tides. The areas where they 

 are laid out are inclosed by fences of closely set stakes, which lessen 

 the action of the waves in these shallows and keep out stingraj^s and 

 other marauders. The value of the mature oysters sold is consider- 

 ably over $500,000 a year, the quantity and value being on the increase. 

 "An important fact in connection with the maturing of large quan- 

 tities of eastern oysters in the bay is the extensive degree of propaga- 

 tion that has been going on. The writer has investigated this subject 

 several times during the past ten years, finding each time evidences 

 of greater natural increase. 



For a number of years considerable quantities of oysters of volun- 

 teer growth have been picked at low tide from areas remote from the 

 transplanted beds, and it has been ascertained that oystering of this 

 character has been carried on without decreasing the supply. 



Oyster spat from extensive planted beds along the west side of the 

 bay drifts with the prevailing winds, toward the east side, where a very 

 considerable set takes place, over an area more than 20 miles long. 



Here there are broad stretches of shell banks of the small worth- 

 less native oyster of San Francisco Bay, upon the shells of which the 

 young of the eastern oyster find lodgment. The strong winds of mid- 

 summer create a heavy wave wash over the reefs, drifting the light 

 shells of the natives and burying many of the eastern oysters growing 

 among them. Fencing lessens the action of the waves and protects 

 the interests of the owners. From a tract of 150 acres in this section 

 of the bay, recently inclosed, over a million oysters were picked before 

 any imported seed was laid out. It appears that the amount of spat set 

 free from the transplanted beds is increasing, and the indications are 

 that with the fencing in and planting of the shell banks of the east side 

 the increment from natural propagation will grow in importance. 



Table showing the quantity of eastern seed oysters shipped to San Francisco Bay 



from 1887 to 1900, 



Year. 



1887 



1888 



I 1889 



: 1890 



■ 1891 



I 1892 



1893 



1894 



Pounds. 



l,562,a)0 

 1,128,000 

 1,007,000 

 1,559,000 

 3,273,000 

 2,123,000 

 1,607,000 

 1,332,000 



Year. 



1895 



1896 



1897 



1898 



1899 



1900 (first 8 months) 



Total 



Pounds. 



1,680,000 

 1,485,000 

 859,000 

 1,564,000 

 1,086,000 

 1,608,000 



22,873,000 



