OYSTER BEDS OF JAMES RIVER, VIRGINIA. 

 Details of Examination of Jail Island Rock. 



41 



Station 

 num- 

 ber. 



184 

 198 

 199 

 200 

 404 

 207 

 210 

 211 

 402 

 183 

 185 

 192 

 208 

 212 

 401 

 403 





Mean 



Date of ex- 



depth 



amination. 



of wa- 





ter. 





Feet. 



Aug. 18,1909 



11.0 



Aug. 19,1909 



7.0 



....do 



6.0 



....do 



4.0 



Aug. 27,1909 



4.0 



Aug. 19,1909 



10.0 



...fdo.. 



11.5 



....do 



8.5 



Aug. 27,1909 



4.0 



Aug. 18,1909 



11.0 



....do 



12.0 



Aug. 19,1909 



9.0 



....do 



7 5 



....do 



G.5 



Aug. 27,1909 



5.5 



....do 



4.0 



Character of growth. 



Dense. 

 ....do. 

 ....do. 



do 



do 



Scattering. 

 do 



do 



Very scattering. 



Depleted 



do 



do 



do 



Oysters caught per 

 square yard. 



Spat. 



1.3 

 1.7 



.0 

 1.5 

 1.3 



4.6 

 5.4 

 .0 

 1.1 

 .0 

 .4 

 .0 

 .0 

 .0 

 .7 

 .0 



Culls. Counts. 



49.0 



12.1 



8.5 



8.8 



3.3 



8.2 



16.7 



2.7 



1.9 



.0 



1.7 



.0 



.0 



.3 



.7 



.0 



4.6 



2.5 



6.9 



4.2 



2.8 



2.1 



2.5 



6.2 



.9 



.0 



1.3 



.7 



.0 



.3 



.0 



.0 



Estimated 



quantity 



oysters per 



acre. 



Bushels. 



306 



97 



138 



110 



62 



88 



140 



99 



28 







32 



8 







6 



7 







WRECK SHOAL ROCK. 



This is a large, important, and productive bed extending from the 

 preceding to the edge of deep water. For the purposes of this report, 

 it is regarded as including the oyster growth on and about Wreck 

 Shoal proper and the small shoal to the westward of its outer end. 

 Excepting where it adjoins Jail Island bed, its boundaries are rather 

 sharply defined by a sudden shoaling of the water. This is especially 

 pronounced at the southern edge of the bed, where the bottom very 

 abruptly rises from about 150 feet to within 6 feet of the surface. 

 North of the smaller shoal the bed is prolonged into a narrow belt 

 occupying a slightly shoaling ridge connected with a corner of Mul- 

 berry Swash Rock. The depth at low water varies from less than 5 

 feet on the shoals to 12 or 15 feet at the edges. On one small area 

 projecting as a tongue from the southeast side the water reaches a 

 maximum depth of 30 feet. 



Wreck Shoal Rock is practically everywhere highly productive 

 and no part of it falls below the standard here regarded as consti- 

 tuting denseness of growth. Accepting the arbitrary inner boundary 

 here adopted, it has an area of about 506 acres. The oyster growth 

 at the places examined ranges from 178 to 497 bushels per acre, the 

 average being about 316. The heaviest growth is as a rule found on 

 the shoaler places, which facilitates the removal of the product. 

 This materially raises the average daily yield to the tonger, which 

 ranges in different places from 12 bushels to 51 bushels, with a, gen- 

 eral average for the entire bed of over 29 bushels. 



The bottom is well covered with clean shells and the bod can be 

 regarded as being in a healthy and promising condition. In a few 

 places there is a fair growth of large oysters and on the bed as a, 



