RELATIVE INTENSITY OF OYSTER SETTING IN DIFFERENT YEARS IN THE SAME AREAS OF LONG ISLAND SOUND

¹ U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Milford, Conn.

1. During the 12 years of observations none of the stations, representing relatively small bottom areas, always occupied a position among the best oyster set producers.

2. If larger areas instead of individual stations were compared, a definite tendency of the Bridgeport area to be more productive than the others was evident.

3. There was no evidence that the stations located at a definite depth, such as 10, 20 or 30 feet, consistently produced better sets of oysters than the stations at other depths.

4. There may be a great variability in the density of oyster set even within a given depth and district in the same year. For example, Stations 4 and 5, although located in the same district and at the same depth, showed a rather different standing with Long-Range Ranks of 9 and 3, respectively.

5. Local minor water currents are important in the relative productivity of bottom areas.