24 OYSTER BOTTOMS OF MISSISSIPPI EAST OF BILOXI. 



Summarized Content of Market Oysters on Public Beds, 



Name of bed. 



Character of oyster growth. 



Dense. 



Scatter- 

 ing. 



Very 

 scatter- 

 ing. 



Depleted. 



Total. 



Scranton Reef 



Patches near Scranton Reef 



West Pascagoula Reef 



Deer Island, East Point 



Small patches, Biloxi Bay 



Biloxi Bay, below railway bridge. 



Back Bay, east bed 



Back Bay, west bed 



Bushels. 

 12,232 



Bushels. 



12,285 



770 



12, 141 



920 



1,385 



10,098 

 7,221 

 6,206 



1,786 



847 



12,932 



528 



680 



Bushels. 

 18,894 

 360 

 4,522 

 1,400 

 2,400 

 3,672 

 1,008 

 2,255 



Bushels. 



2,358 



24 



285 



329 



8 



442 



231 



20 



Bushels. 



45,769 

 1,154 



16,948 

 4,435 

 4,640 



27,144 

 8,988 

 9,161 



Total. 



50,203 



29,828 



34,511 



3,697 



118,239 



Fifty-four per cefit, or 63,871 bushels of the larger oysters dis- 

 closed by the survey were found in the region adjacent to the mouth 

 of Pascagoula River. Of these, 24^373 bushels were in dense growth, 

 13,055 bushels scattering, 23.776 bushels very scattering, and 2,667 

 bushels on the depleted bottom. The remaining 54,368 bushels, 

 constituting about 46 per cent of the total, were in Biloxi Bay, where 

 25,830 bushels occurred as dense growth, 16,773 bushels as scattering, 

 10,735 bushels as very scattering, and but 1,030 bushels were on the 

 so-called depleted bottom. 



The average product per acre on the beds near Pascagoula River 

 was 221 bushels on the dense, 113 bushels on the scattering, 45 

 bushels on the very scattering, and 7 bushels on the depleted bottoms. 



In Biloxi Bay the averages are 249 bushels per acre on the dense 

 growth, 117 bushels on the scattering, 48 bushels on the very scatter- 

 ing, and 9 bushels on the depleted bottom. It is therefore evident 

 that the oysters on the areas classed as very scattering and de- 

 pleted are so sparsely distributed that they are at present negligible 

 commercially on account of the time and labor which would be 

 involved in tonging them. About 72 per cent of the oyster pro- 

 ducing bottom is, therefore, to be regarded as of no present producing 

 value. The remaining 28 per cent of the area of the beds produces 

 oysters in sufficient quantity to warrant a fishery if size only is 

 considered, but many of the oysters are so badly clustered and so 

 inferior in quality that they have very little value. This is partic- 

 ularly the case on Scranton and West Pascagoula Reefs. 



The only good oysters seen in that vicinity were in the deep water 

 of Pascagoula River, where singles and small clusters are taken in 

 limited quantity. In Biloxi Bay not only is the average productive- 

 ness of the dense and scattered growth greater, but the areas of these 

 growths are greater in proportion to the total extent of the beds, and 

 the oysters are of somewhat better quality. 



