Report of the Board of Shell Fish Commissioners. 67 
METHODS OF OYSTER SURVEY.1 
INFORMATION FURNISHED, 
Before beginning the actual survey of oyster grounds the 
Commission is furnished by the United States Coast and 
Geodetic Survey with projections, constructed on a scale of 
1 part in 10,000 (approximately 6 1-3 inches to a statute 
mile), showing the shore line of the localities to be surveyed 
and the plotted positions of the triangulation stations. The 
Coast and Geodetic Survey has a party in the field to erect 
and determine such triangulation stations as are needed by 
the hydrographic engineers for use in making the survey of 
the oyster grounds. 
Prior to making a survey of any section the local assistant, 
appointed by the County Commissioners, informs the hydro- 
graphic engineer of the approximate location and extent of 
the oyster grounds of the section so they can be indicated in 
pencil on the boat sheets. This information greatly expedites 
survey operations in that it makes surveys of barren bottoms 
unnecessary, and saves cost of erecting additional shore 
stations beyond the limits of the natural oyster bars. 
EQUIPMENT. 
The equipment for conducting the survey of the oyster 
grounds and crabbing bottoms consists in boats and instru- 
ments. . 
BOATS. 
The launch ‘‘CANVASBACK,’” with a coxswain and 
machinist, is furnished by the United States Bureau of 
Fisheries. This launch, 42 feet long, 9-foot beam, has a draft 
of three feet and is hence well adapted for work on oyster 
grounds the boundaries of which extend into water as shal- 
low as four feet. 
The ‘‘ANGLE,’” a dead-rise bateau, 24 feet in length, be- 
longing to the Commission, is used for surveying grounds 
situated in water too shallow for the advantageous use of 
the launch ‘‘CANVASBACK,”’’ 
1 Modified from former report in conformity with changes in methods. 
2See illustration on opposite page. 
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