SEA-FISHERIES LABORATORY. 475 



discharged by the shell-fish. This Order seems to me 

 to be an admirable one, and if its provisions are enforced 

 with care and intelligence it should put an end to all 

 trouble with respect to the pollution of the Conway 

 mussels, and should develop to a great extent this 

 important local industry. It is to be hoped that the 

 Corporation will administer it with sympathy and 

 intelligence. 



Although the matter has now passed out of the 

 hands of the Fisheries Committee, it is, nevertheless, 

 useful to give an account of the condition of the Estuary 

 of the Conway with respect to the contamination of the 

 shell-fish contained therein. This area has now been 

 investigated since 1904 and the conditions with respect 

 to contamination are probably better known than in any 

 other shell-fish area in the country. Bacteriological 

 investigations have also been made from time to time, 

 and a considerable amount of evidence with respect to 

 the communication of disease by these shell-fish has 

 accumulated. The case of the Conway may thus be 

 regarded as a standard one, with which other similar 

 cases may be compared. 



The Mussel Beds. 



The cross-hatched areas in the chart represent the 

 positions and extent of the mussel-bearing grounds. 

 These grounds extend from the Harbour at Deganwy to 

 some distance out to sea, altogether outside the Estuary. 

 Most of the bed of the river below low water mark 

 contains mussels, and there is a considerable area of 

 scar-ground, coming adry on low spring tides, which is 

 also covered with mussels. Also there are mussels on 

 the banks at the mouth of the Estuary, on both sides of 

 the channel. Further up the Estuary, from near the 



