Oyster Setting in Two Adjacent Tributaries of Chesapeake Bay
- 1 April 1969
- journal article
- Published by Oxford University Press (OUP) in Transactions of the American Fisheries Society
- Vol. 98 (2) , 309-314
- https://doi.org/10.1577/1548-8659(1969)98[309:ositat]2.0.co;2
Abstract
Setting of the American oyster, Crassostrea virginica, was monitored weekly on asbestos plates and seasonally on oyster shells for 6 years (1961–66) in the Tred Avon River and for 5 years (1962–66) in Broad Creek—two streams on the eastern shore of Chesapeake Bay, Talbot County, Maryland. Setting was far greater each year in Broad Creek than in Tred Avon River. In both tributaries, setting began in June, reached a peak during July, and was over by early September. The amount of oyster setting on the undersurface or upper surface of plates and shells suspended off bottom was not significantly different. Because of the high setting intensity in Broad Creek, it is suggested that the seed reserve in this tributary be enlarged to 400 acres, which could yield 600,000 bushels of seed oysters annually. This seed could then be planted on natural bars in adjacent tributaries like the Tred Avon River, where oyster setting is poor.This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: