286 
BULLETIN OF THE UNITED STATES FISH COMMISSION. 
In the oyster regions of Apalachicola Bay the survey made in the winter of 1895-96 
by the Fish HawWs party showed the condition of the beds with great detail. The 
oysters there were found in clusters, and ranged in size from very small to full size in 
each cluster, the crowding of the oysters in the clusters being a serious retardation to 
their growth. In addition, the whole mass was invariably thickly covered with mus- 
sels, so that without doubt great good would result in breaking up and separating the 
oysters of the clusters. In the Apalachicola work the average number of oysters to 
the square yard was taken on the different beds, with a view to forming a comparison 
at a future survey, and thus determine the increase or decrease of each bed. 
The questions of temperature and food supply are very important; the former 
affects the spawning season directly, and the latter depends to a great degree on the 
currents. Generally speaking, the spawning season extends from the middle of April 
to the middle of July, but these limits of time vary with the temperature to a consid- 
erable degree, a cool spring causing a late spawning season. However, it is probable 
that in the waters under consideration the oysters spawn to a greater or less degree 
all the year around. This is evidenced by the fact that the spat is observed in all 
stages of development during the year. It is generally considered that oysters reach 
a spawning age at the end of three or four years. 
The current concerns the food supply materially; the bottoms most favorable to 
oyster growth, as those over which there is gentle flow, changing in direction as the 
tide changes from ebb to flood. The long, narrow reefs which form the beds are 
almost invariably at right angles to the direction of flow of the current, and the 
banking up of the water caused by its meeting an obstruction in the form of the bed 
gives it an increased velocity, so that usually the locality of the bed is at once shown 
by the tide rip. Of course, at slack water no such material aid is given in finding the 
beds. It is a singular fact that almost without exception the beds are crescent- 
shaped, with their concave surfaces all on the same side of the areas of the beds. 
The enemies of the Florida oysters are few in number. The starfish, the pest of 
oysters in Long Island Sound and other localities, is rarely found, and the loss from 
injury by drills is very small. Parasitic growths, in the form of mussels and barnacles, 
are injurious; but they may hardly be classed as enemies, as their harmful effects are 
indirect. It may be said that the Florida oysters are singularly free from exposure 
to enemies that oysters of other sections are subjected to. 
The three great natural conditions that work destruction to the beds are the 
freezes, hurricanes, and freshets that occasionally occur, and the first two take place 
principally in the northern sections of the coast. The cause of the deterioration of 
the beds other than from natural sources is almost invariably due to overworking. 
The demand is too great for the supply, and the beds are worked until they no longer 
yield profitable results, and usually until they are so depleted that years are required 
for them to recuperate. Add to these causes the facts that the oystermen are so 
shortsighted that they pay little attention, as a rule, to the laws regarding culling and 
taking undersized oysters, and it can readily be seen that there is a small chance for 
the productiveness of the beds to increase. Fortunately, dredging is prohibited by 
law, and it is the oue law that is usually observed, and only because the use of dredges 
would be immediately noticed and complained of. Again, dredging as practiced in 
the North could not easily be carried on advantageously, on account of the shoal water. 
As measures for the improvement of the beds, I would recommend that no oysters 
be taken from April 15 to October 15; that the law nowin force regarding the culling 
