PREFACE. 





On February 3, 1909, the Bureau of Fisheries received from Hon. 

 Claude A. Swanson, governor of Virginia, a communication inclosing 

 the following resolution of the Commissioners of Fisheries of the 

 State : 



Resolved, That the governor be requested to enlist the services of the United States 

 Bureau of Fisheries in determining and denning the fertile and the barren areas in 

 James River, marking and platting same, provided it can be done without expendi- 

 ture by the State. 



At the urgent solicitation of Governor Swanson, and upon the con- 

 viction that the work would prove of value as a guide for contem- 

 plated legislation by the State in respect to the future administration 

 of the public oyster grounds, the request for the survey was acceded 

 to, the steamer Fish Hawk and civilian assistants were detailed for 

 the work, and Dr. H. F. Moore, assistant in the Bureau of Fisheries, 

 was directed to assume charge. 



The erection of signals was begun early in July and completed by 

 August 7. The actual examination of the oyster beds commenced 

 on August 9 and extended, with only such interruptions as were due 

 to the weather, to September 14, the survey thus covering the period 

 just prior to the opening of the oyster season, when the beds were in 

 their optimum condition. Under the terms of the resolution quoted 

 above, the Bureau has not felt justified in offering advice as to the 

 future treatment of the beds, and the following report is therefore 

 confined to statements of fact and a short discussion of their several 

 obvious avenues of application. 



George M. Bowers, 



Commissioner. 



United States Bureau of Fisheries, 



Washington, D. C, December 1, 1909. 



3 



