Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-24

- pENINd Of the oyster season
next month viii bring back 10
the menus Of restaurants.
~ homes and hospitals q delicacy
which rates almost as high as
milk In food value, after o four-Month
OF season which Bureau Of Fisheries
authorities are now convinced can be
wiped on the calendar.
The four "R"-less months now end
ing are natural off-season for oyster
harvesting, but, Is Lewis Radcliffe,
deputy commissioner of fisheries, ex-
planned 10 the National Association Of
Shellfish Commissioners at Sayville,
L. T., August 10, the recent develop
ment Of quick freezing processes and
low-temperature refrigeration has made
1t possible, though apparently 1t has
not yet been done, to carry this prod
uct through the year and greatly ex-
tend It's market.
Studies Guide Oystermen.
That, he pointed out, opens q great
future for oyster farming, made pos
sibie on q successful basis largely by
the work In recent years OF scientists
attached to the bureau and associates
in various state and university labo-
ratories.
This work, which has made it pos
sible for oystermen 10 improve and
, With Inowisdgs Of the lie history. 81
ology and habits Of oysters and the
requirements for their proper develop
ment, has been done largely In the
off-seasons.
Such studies. which have guided
oysternen In Northeastern, Southeast
ern, Gulf and Pacific waters In select
ing suitable beds for the spawning and
maturing of oysters, were pursued this
Summer, not only In various laboratories.
but In Long Island Sound and Oakland
Bay. WASH, and begun In Virginia
waters on Chesapeake Bay.
The value of this work In establishing
and opening possibilities Of increasing
production has been shown In Long
Island Sound, New York, New Jersey
and Connecticut waters, where produc-
ton has been maintained around o
level of S,0O0,0 900 bushels year since
1880, whereas In Chesapeake Bay, where
relatively little oyster farming has been
done, the harvest declined from about
1900, 900 bushels to around $4,000
in 1928. It was q further threat Of
decline. especially in the Mobjack Bay
section, last Winter, which alarmed the
Virginia authorities and led them to
seek the cooperation Of the Bureau OF
Fisheries In restoring and building up
the industry In waters which. United
States Commissioner Henry OMalley
remarked, apparently are capable OF
producing enough oysters TO feed the
world.
Oyster Spawning.
oysters spawn In Southern waters -
early as June, and farther north In
July and August, releasing billions OF
microscopic larvae which, TO survive
choice article of diet Of starfish and
other marine animals. must ind resting
places on clean arm surfaces where
thew can set and begin their growth.
Suficiently high temperatures and
proper mixtures OF various chemicals,
including copper, In the water are
necessary to bring about Q successful
setting Of the larval oysters.
There Is no more important event
in the life history Of the oyster or IN
the successful operation of oyster farm
ing than that which marks the attach.
ment or cementing of the microscopic
larval oyster to submerged objects, such
as old shells, gravel, brush, etc." H. =.
Prytherch, one Of the bureaus experts,
told the shellfish commissioners and
oystermen at Sayville.
Depend ON Copper in Water.
"This process Of attachment or set
ting, which must be successfully COM
pleted for the survival Of the oyster. has
been found to depend upon the presence
of an infinitesimal amount Of copper In
the water" he continued. Studies at
the bureaus laboratory at Milford.
Conn, have shown further that this
copper is brought down TO the sea In
the river waters In its most eficient
form and stimulates the larval oyster
to attach and undergo the metamor-
phosis into the adult. Consequently we
md that there Is Q definite relation
between the distribution of oyster beds
and prolific seed producing areas and
the now Of fresh water In our coastal
regions"
Trade wastes, which have caused
heavy mortality among oysters In vari-
Gus parts Of the country, DR.. Prytherch
pointed out, are not helpful even when
they contain copper. Sometimes they
contain too much and poison the lar
vac. Other trade wastes Of IN aka
line Character have been found to pre-
cipitate from the river It's normal con-
tent Of copper and thus deprive the
oyster Of its essential element. Il has
also been found that solutions Of cop
per, in proper amounts, help the larval
oysters inssncthsr way by driving away