47 
and on the west coast of Vancouver Island, very little has been 
done in oyster culture in British Columbia, the supply for local 
consumption being drawn from the East and from Puget Sound. 
There is a good opening for a profitable business in oysters, as the 
demand increases with the growth of population. Experience has 
taught the oyster growers of Washington that an inexpensive dyke, 
which holds a small amount of water over the oysters at low tide, 
greatly enhances the value and productiveness of an oyster bed. 
Many of the dyked beds yield from 100 to 350 sacks of oysters per 
acre each season, some producing as high as 500 sacks. The grower 
receives from $4.50 to $5 per sack, and as the cost of raising and 
marketing is about $1.25 per sack, a handsome margin of profit is 
left. British Columbia’s production of oysters for 1908 was valued 
at $12,750. 
CLAMS AND OTHER MOLLUSKS. 
Clams, of various species, are found nearly everywhere on the 
Coast, and their value as food is being recognized by the establish- 
ment of clam canneries at various points. These canneries are 
not as yet on a very extensive scale, but their output is of good 
quality and the business promises to become important and 
profitable. The output of canned clams for 1908 was 1,700 cases 
(48 barrels), valued at $8,160. 
The abalone, a large mollusk, sometimes growing to the size 
of a soup plate, is quite common, and is by many esteemed a 
delicacy. Cockles, mussels, and other edible shell fish are very 
abundant, and are more or less sought for as food, and although 
such “small deer” of the sea are barely reckoned in estimating 
the commercial importance of our fisheries, they, in the aggregate, 
contribute a very considerable amount to the annual value of the 
industry, the figures for 1908 for these miscellaneous products— 
including clams, crabs, shrimps, etc.—summing up over $23,000. 
CRABS, SHRIMPS, ETC. 
Large crabs, belonging to the genus Cancer, are very common, 
and at certain seasons come up on the shores, in some localities, in 
large numbers. They are in great demand for food, taking the 
place of the lobster, which is not found in the Pacific. The catch 
of crabs is little more than enough to supply the local demand, 
for no special effort is made to capture them. The business of 
canning crabs has been essayed recently by a couple of firms, and 
this will doubtless stimulate crab fishing. 
