SHELLf'lSH
IN\[}l':;;Jl'IGA'rIOI.'l
SHELLFISH IN
1ETIGAT ION
PROGRESS REPORT
PROGRESS
LEPORT NO
NO.
o 19
¼
February 21, 1950
February
1950
l'ROPOSED
COOS SAY
BAY AND
AND THEIR PROBABLE
PHOBABLE AFFECT
AFFF.CT I'ROPOSED DREDGING
DREDGINGOPERATIONS
OPERATIONSL~
IN COOS
Q~
CLk~
POPULATIONS
(AREAS
UPBAY
FROM
THE
RAILROAD
BRIDGE,
POPULATIONS
(AREAs
UPBAY
FROM
THE
RAILROAD
BRIDGE,
ON CLAM
WITH ~OTES
ON THE
THE OTHER
OTH~R DISPOSAL
DISPOSAL AREAs.)
AR~AS.) WITH
NOTES ON
The purpose
purpose of this report
The
report is
to bring
bring up
up to date
date all
all data
data collected
collected
is to
clam populations
proposed dredging
dredging areas in
Coos Bay,
Bayo
regarding clam
populations in proposed
in Coos
Informed of the
theArmy
Army Engineers'
and dumping
dumping plans,
Informed
Engineers dredging
dredging and
plans, aa
inspections of
of the
the areas
areas in
in question have
have been
been made
made by
by the
the
number of inspections
biologists of
of this
this laboratory3
laborator,yo
The enclosed
enclosed maps
maps (see
(see Chart
Chart No0
Noo 1,
1,
Chart No
No0
2) show 11 proposed dumpage areas,
areas, or an ap~roximate
approximate acreage
o 2)
total of 920
920 acres3
acres~
upbay from the railroad bridge
The dumpage areas upb~
have been
been covered
covered as
as far
far as
as the
the clam
clam populations
populations warrant0
warrant.
have
While the
While
dumpage areas downbay from
from the
the railroad
railroad bridge
bridge are
are briefly
briefly mentioned
~ I
here
they will be fJ.ore
more completely covered at a future date in another
here they
report.0
A
a
similarArmy
Army Engineers'
carried on
on last
last year in
similar
En in e' operation was carried
Coos
Bay, (see
Keport No0
No o 12)
destruction of
(see Special Report
12) resulting
resulting in the
the destruction
Coos Bay,
Despite Obaa good
good part of aa commercially important horseclaxn
horseclam bed,
bed •. Despite
ob­
jection of
of local
local residents,
residents, commercial
commercial clam
clam diggers,
diggers, and
and the
the
jection
Fish
Commission that phase of
of the
the program was
was carried
carried out
out to
to completion
completion,.
This year,
hoped the
year, with an earlier start and more data,
data, it is hopeithe
clam populations
~opulations can be protected0
protectedo
The following
following is
is aa key
key to
to the
the dumpage areas which will be used as
The
reference
reference throughout
throughoutthis
this report:
-2-
Table No,
No o 11
Table
Dunipage
Area ~~ber
hunber
DumEtge Are~
Dumpage Areas
Dumpase
Approximate
Acrge
Aeeroximate Aereage
Percent of
of Total
l4O
~40
410
410
115
30
~
20
W
10
1
2
.:3
3
4
4
55
6
6
7
7
8
15%
45
45
13
I,
.:3
3
ro
2
1
55
10
0.,5
0.5
1
90
~
~
35
9
9
10
W
II
II
55
55
920 acres
10
W
44
66
TOTAL
100..
5%
100.5%
Refer to
to Chart
Chart No.
No. 1 for
for location
location of
of these
these areas.
areas.
Area No" 1
Area No..
Eastside, Oregon,
Oregon, was
was investigated
investigated for
for clam
clam
Area
No, 1, near Eastside,
populations last fall,
fall, July 22,
~opulations
22, 1949,
1949, and whereas a few
few clams
clams (Eastern
(Eastern
soft-shell - soft-shell
!r! arenaria)
were found,
found, it
it was
was not
not advisable
advisable to
to object
object
arenaria) were
to
log boom
boom construction
construction beca~e
becauze of
of the
the o~r~
overall picture of
to dikes
dikes arid
ana log
clams in the
question"
the area
area in question,
further clam
clam. populations
!-,o,l.lulations have
have been
been
No further
"
found in this
this area.
area.
In the
the opinion
opinion of
of the
the biologists
biologists of
of this
this station
station
In
there is
is no objection
objection to
to the
the dumpage
dumpage of
of wastes
wastes on
on this
this area.
area..
there
Spttcial
further details.)
details.)
Special Report .No
No... 11 for further
(See
Counts in the area
yielded
yielded 6.2
6..2 clams
clams per
per 100
100 square
square feet,
feet, and
and the
the size
size of
of the
the clams
clams was
was
extremely ama11
amall.
(Average J9~5
lIlID." in
in length.)
length.)
(Average
395 mm.
Area No o 2
The largest of
areas, Area
Area No.
Hoo 2,
2, which
which contains
contains approximately
approximately
of the
the 11
U areas,
410 acres,
acres, or 45 percent
percent of the
the total
total dumpage
dumpage areas,
areas, was
was surveyed
surveyed
l~ebruary 15
15 through
through February
February 17
17 of
of this
this year
year on
on tides
tides of
of -0.9
-0 .. 9 foot,
foot,
1ebruary
+204
feet, and
and -0,8
-008 foot.
foot"
+2.4 feet,
The area is
is bounded
bounded by Kooston
Kooston Channel
Channel on
on
the north,
the Marshfield Channel
Channel on
on the
the south,
south, by
by the
the Main
Main Channel
Ch~lllel
north, by the
on the
the west, and
and extends
extends 2,000
2,000 feet
feet eastward
eastward from
from its
its west
west boundary,
boundary"
The
-3area has been
been arid
and is
now being
boom area
is now
being used
used as
as log boom
areaand
andspoils
spoils area
area,o
For convenience
convenience sake
sake it
sections'SB,
riB, C,
C, and
and DIt,
it has
ha8 been
been divided
divided into sections
0",
the surrounding sections being
being "A
It A and
and E".
En.,
In
general the clam
clam populations
In general
populationspresent,
present, the
the Eastern
Eastern soft-shell,
soft-8hell,
~
arenaria, were
were on
on the higher
higher ground,
ground, the lower
lower portion
portion being
being very
very
soft mud
mud and
clamso
soft
and void
void of clams.
Takingthe
thesections
sectionsinin letter
letter order,
order, the
the various
various sections
sections will
will be
be
Taking
discussed:
Section A:
Although this area is outside
dumpage area
area
outside the dumpage
it was felt
felt to be near enough to warrant an investigation..
investigation0
Local residents
residents stated
stated that
that clams
clams used to be dug here years
ago,
ago, but
but that
that no digging had occurred in recent years.
years.
Mro
Mr0 Fred
Fred Mort.enson,
Mortenson, aa moorage
nioorageoperator
operator directly
directly across
across from
from
this section,
section, stated,
stated, "There
"There used
used to
to be
be clams
clams there in
in good
good
numbers
until
until the
the log booms were constructed1"
constructed. II
un the evening of
On
of Februar,y
foot
February 15,
15, 1950,
1950, during a -009
-0.9 foot
low
tripwas
wasmade
made to
to this area.
were seen
area, No
io clams
clams were
low tiae
tine aa trip
until the inner
inner channel
channel was
was reached.
reached.
population was
was
population
surviving
thischannel
channel~
surviving on
artthe
the we~t
west side
side of this
The east
east side
side of
of
The
clams 0
clams.
A
A fair
fair but
but restricted
no
the channel
channel had
had an abrupt
abrupt slope
slope arid
and no
No,o 2) were
Sam.lJles
2, and
(see Chart No
Samples No
No.o 1,
1, 2,
and 3.3 (see
being taken tne following
taken
night with
with sample
sample Noo.o 1+4 being
taken that night
morning atata a+·22,4
..4 foot
tide Results were
were for the
the four
foursamples
sam,lJles
morning
foot tide.
Q
pr
1..6
clam.s p-er square
s.quare foot,
foot, averaging 578
57 8 millimeters
millimeters
16 clams
0
length It
It is
isinteresting
interesting to
tonote
note that
that aa trip
triptotothis
thissame
same
in length.
area December
December 20,
clams of the
the same
swne average
average
20,1949
1949resulted
resulted in clams
length.
Table 14o.
Table
Noo 2
Section
lIo. of
of Square
Square Clams
section No.
Clam Counts per
per Area
Clams Clams per
Average Length
Square Foot (Millimeters)
(Millimeters)
Feet
Ecanthied Counted.
Counted Dug
FeeL §!!~ed
~
A-i
A-I
A-2
A-3
A-4.
A-4
'.fotal
Total
55
17*
17*
55
55
14
100
115
85
73
73
189 " 17
21
23.
---
1.,6
i6
57,8
0 8
57
··Anot.her
.Another samEle
sample December
December 2O:
20, 1949
samE? area.
area. 12~2 same
5?8
51.,8
No counts
140
counts made, clams
clams very
very scarce.
scarce.
8
B
C-l
C-).
C-2
C-3
C-3
C;"4
C-4
C-S
C-5
C-6
C-6
Total
e
375
600
600
162
10
140
140
1,427
143
392
135
17
17
12
12
82
781
Handcm
Iandart digging
digging -* 47.5
47.5
-16
-
55
64.1
1)
D
No counts
counts made"
purposes' same
same as
No
made, for practical purposes
as section
section C.
C. 75",3
753
E
1
No clams
clams seen,
seen,
flwo
*Two areas were first
[irot counted visibly
visibly- as to the number of siphon
siphon
holes showing
showing and
and then
then were
were completely
completelydug
dugout..
out.. In general
general the
The figure shown
of clams
clams showing
showing to
ratioi of
to clams
clams dug
dug was
was 1:1
1:1.* '!'he
(17) was
was mere).7
mere17 transferred
fran tiClams
I1Clams Dugu
section.
(17)
transferred from
Dug' section.
In
it was noted, and
and is
is noted
noted throughout
throughout the
the
In both trips it
whole dunipage
dumpage area,
whole
area, that
that the
the populations
populations of
of clams
clams were re­
restricted to
to along
along the
"the inside
inside channels
channels and
and imnediately
immediate17 around
around
stricted
the higher "islaad&'
"islands" in all sections.
sections.
was there
At no time was
seen any extensive
extensive bed of
of clams,
clams o
It is
i8 estimated by
by the
the writers
writers that
that the
the band
band of
ot clams
clams
inner channel
channel was 1,500
1,500 feet
teet long
long and
and 20
20 feet
feet wide,
wide,
along this inner
or a total
total of 30,000 square
square feet,
teet.
This area having an average
-5-5­
of 1I,6
.. 6 clam.::l
square foot
foot would then
then have
have 48,000
48,000 clams
clams or
or
or
clams per square
2,650 pounds
pounds of
of live
live clams
clams (using
(using 25
25 gin,
glft. per
per clam
clam averaging
averaging
58
DIIIl.,) ~
58 nmt0)
To
To assign
assigu aa value
value to
to these
these clams
clams frau
frau aa commercial
commercial
standpoint would
would be
be questionable
questionablebecause
becauseofofthe
thesinai].
~all size
size
standpoint
of the clams.
clams..
They would
would be
be of
ot some
some value
value to
to the
the sportsmen,
sportsmen,
They
their value
value being
being limited
limited somewhat,
somewhat, however,
however, clue
due to
to their
their
their
restr~ted occurrence
occurrenceininaarelatively
relativelyinaccessible
inaccessibleareas,
area~
reatrtted
Section B:
B:
As indicated by the map the majority of
ot this
piece of ground is
is grass
grass and
and brush,
brush, the
the northern portion
giving way to
to mud flats but
but covered
covered with log booms.
booms. AA
trip to this area (see Chart
1~0" 2) February 16, 1950
1950
brought to
to light
light aa negligible
negligible clam
clam population.
po,pulation.
brought
For the
the entire
entire
For
area.
only six
six very
very 3Tnl1
small clams
clams were
were dug,
aug. These
area traversed only
millimeters in
in length0
lengtho
averaged 47Q5
475 millimeters
There are
are no
no significant
significant populations
populations of
of clams
clams in
in
Section B
to the
the best
best of our
our knowledge,
knowled~e, nor is
is there
there any
8 to
reason to suspect
suspect the existence
existence of any~
any
c:
Section C;
Section
At an extreme
extreme low
low tide this
this section
section would undoubtedly
undoubtedly
be all one mud
shown on the mapo
mud flat
flat as shown
map0
However,J there
However
are aa number
number of 'island&',
of the flat,
flat, that
are
"islands", higher points ot
can be seen
seen at almost
almost any
any stage
stage of
of tide4
tide~
The samples were
taken about the
the perimeter
perimeter of
of these
these "island&',
"islands", the
the surrounding
surrounding
areas being too
too low
low and soft
soft for clams,
clams Some
Some of
of the
the 1is1ands*
"islands"
0
"r're
ere so
so encircled
encircled with log booms and piling that it was
impossible
to examine
examinethe
theizinnediate
immediate~perimetere\
impossible to
perinet.era of
of them.
them.
-6­
Two island were examined on
on Section
Section 0,
C, tour
four samples
taken on one and two on
on another0
another 0
These are
are numbered
numbered one
one
six. and can be seen
Been on
on Chart .Noo
2...
through six
No. 2.
The results
as listed in Table 2
2 showed the
the area to be
be averaging
averaging 0.55
0~55
clams per square root,
foot, and the clams
clams averaging
averaging 64~1
64.1milli­
milli-
meters in
in length.
length.
Over two-thirds of Section CC consists
consists
of soft mud and wood waste (bark,
(bark, sticks,
sticks, sawdust, etc.).
clams were found
found in
in aa narrow
narrow band
band
As was found before, the clams
around the higher
higher areas.
areas.
three island
island on
on
Out of the three
Section C,
two were investigated.
investigated.
C, two
a~out
about
The clam-bearing strip
wide o
the perimeters was ten yards wide.
The-diameter
The
'diameter
of the islands investigated were 150 yards,
yaras, and 70 yards
respectively,
respectively.
Calculation showed the
the permeter
perimeter of the
...3 acres
acres of
of clam
clam flats.
flats..
islands to have
have roughly
roughly 1l3
To
account for one island not surveyed,
surveyed, it
seemed reasonable
it aeemed
to double this acreage figure giving
giving aa total
total of
of 2.6
2 ..6 acres
acres
(11,325 square teet)
feet) of clam flats for Section C.
At
At 0055
0.55
clams per square
square toot
foot this
this would
would give
give 6,2.30
6,Z30 clams
clams for
for this
this
n. per clam)l
area or roughly 410 pounds of
ot clams (using
(using 30
30 ~.
As in the preceding Section A, a set
set commercial
commercial value
value
would be
be questionable because
because of
of the
the small
anall size
si~e of
of the
the clams.
clamso
Similarly it would be
be difficult to assign
assign aa sports
sports value
value as
as
the clam beds are spotty in
in this area.
t?ection
Section D:
C in appearance, Section
Section DD
Very similar to Section C
is interspersed with
with 'island&'
lIislands" and
and piling.
pilingo
No actual counts
were made but the area was looked over and was adjudged to
be like Section C.
Co
-7­
A .survey
August 5~
5, 1948
1948 up
up Kooaton
Kooston Channel
Channel showed
A
~urvey August
showed the
the
clams to be
be very scarce,
(six clams
clams were dug
scarce, (six
dug in fifteen minutes
searching) on
of searching)
on tne
the south
south bank
bank but
but aa little
little larger--averaging
1arger.averaging
753
75 ..3 milLimeters
millimeters in
in length.
length.
B
Section E:
The shaded
shaded area
area on
on the
the map (Chart
(Chart No
shows
The
No,o 2) shows
the area traversed,
traversed.
ing Section B,
B..
This ground
ground is
is much lower
lower than the adjoinadjoin­
The mud gives
gives way
way to
to shifting
Shifting sand,
sand.
The
No clams
clams
No
were seen
seen in
in the
the course
course of
of the
the entire
entire -0.8
-Oe8 foot
foot tide
tide the
the night
night
were
of February
19500
of
February 16, 1950,
Area No.3
No. 3
This area lying
101 highway
highway bridge and extending
lying under
uncterthe
theU~S
US~ 101
ciowribay cove
cove to
around into
into the
the adjacent
adjacent downbay
to just
just past the railroad
~dilroad trestle
trestle
around
+2,0 daylight tide
was surveyed
surveyed the
the morning of
of February 17, 1950 on a +2.,0
which bared
bared the
the entire
entire cove
cove (excepting
(excepting channels)0
channels).
which
The area.
area is
is soft
soft sand
the main channel
channel edge,
edge, changing
changing to
to very
very soft
soft mud back in
in the
the cove0
cove ~
on the
Much of
of the
the leading
leading edge
edge near
near the
the highway
high~ bridge
bridge is
is covered
covered with
with up
up to
to
Much
a foot of
of sawdust
sawust and
and wood
wood chips.
chips.
JirtuaUy all
Virtually
all of
of the
the area
area was
was examined,
examined,
excepting spots
spots too
too soft
50ft to walk
walk on,
on, during
during the
the tide,
tide" Some
Some ghost
ghost shrimp
shrimp
in the
the sandy
sandy portions
portions but
but no
no clams
clams of
of any
eny kind
kind were
were found
found
were found
found in
anywhere.,
anywhere.
Slmary
Summary
:.lll
of the
the proposed
proposed spoils
spoils areas
areas in
in the
the present
present Coos
Coos Bay
Bay dredging
dredging
A11 of
program above
above (upbay
(upb~ from)
from) the
the railroad
railroad bridge
bridge have
have been
been examined
examined to
to
program
date..
The spoils
spoils location
location directly
directly off
off the
the towns
towns of
of Coos
Coos Bay
Bay and
and Eastside
Eastside has
has
been found
found to
to have,
have, at
at the
the best,
best, sub-marginal
sub-marginal populations
populations of
of Eastern
Eastern
soft-shell clams;
clams; the
the same
same being
being true
true of
of the
the area
area around
around and
and between
bet~een the
the
date0
-8­
bridge0 No
railroad bridge and the highway bridgeo
No objection
objection whatsoever
whatsoever is
is
entered against the
the use of these.locations
dumpingo
these locations for dumping0
small, spotty
spotty population of
of small
small clams
clams was
was found on
on the
the
A
A very small,
northern end
end and
and west
west side
side of
of the
the largest
largest spoils
spoils area
area across
across
northern
town of North Bend0
Bend o
fr~
from
the
the
It is possible that
that this
this area
area may have once
It
supported better
better beds
beds but
but no hope
hope of
of possible
possible improvement
improvement can
can be
be seen
seen
as long
long as
as the
the land
land is
is used
used for
for booming
booming purposes
purposes as
as is
is now
now the
the case0
case.
It
It
would be
be preferable
preferable to
to have
have the
the spoiis
spoils proposed
proposed for
for this
this area
area dumped,
dumped,
would
instead,
back on
on %ection
$ection E,
E, or
or as
as near
near as
as possible.
possible.
instead, back
However,
iowever, in view
of the
th~ dis
Lance that
that would.
would be
disarice
be required
required to
to pipe
pipe to
to there
there (roughly
(roughly two
mi~es) it
it is
is felt
i'elt unreasonable
unreasona.ble to
to request
request such.
such ..
miles)
According~y, no
no objection
objection is
is felt
felt justified
justified by
by this
this laboratory
laboratory to
to
Accordingly,
proposed spoils
spoils areas
areas upbay
upbay from
from the
the railroad
railroad bridge
bridge as
as
any of the three proposed
now
planned.
now planneth
Only one suggestion might be made:
made
namely, that dumping
the northern
northern half
half of
of area
area No0
No .. 22 be
be consolidated
consolidated onto
ontoas
on the
on
as small an
area as
as possible
possible and
and as
as far
far removed
removed from
from the
the main
main channels
channels as
as practical,
practical»
rather than
than be
be allowed
~owed to
to spread
spread out
out over
ol/er an
an undue
undue tcrritory
territory <
At least
least partial
partial inspections
inspections of
of most
most of
of the
the remaining
remaining are.s
are~s in
in the
the
At
lower bay
bay have
have been
been made
made in
in the
the past,
past, but
but these
these should
should be
be rechecked
rechecked more
more
lower
accurate~
accurately
before a final report is made for them.
tha~.
serious objections
objections are
are visualizecL
visualized.
At the present no
Further, according to information
Further,
by the
the dredging
dredging company,
company, their
their time
time table
table does
does not
not call
call for
for arrival
arrival
given by
of the work
work below
below the
the bridge
bridge until
until July
July 4,
4, 1950
1950 (dredging
(dredging now
now starting
starting at
at
Eastside
working dowribay)
downbay),
Easteide working
Thus a final report in March
March on the
the entire
entire
project would still
5ti~1 give
give sufficient
sufficient time
time to
to make
make any
any corrections
corrections that
that might
might
be needed0
needed¢
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COOS BAT
CHA.HT
1
CHART ,# 1
coos BAT
BAY
COOS
aateide
DREDGING
PROJECT
ORDGING PROJFCT
a
1950
~ Dumpe
Dumpage areas
a.real
;C21
Miles
,LJ Miles
from moutn
from
motn oof b&j
ba'
,-_.
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Secl. .., rlNlt
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(pall)
(grass)
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Channel
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Skiaded area.
areas abo.
show areas
areas surey.d.,
Shaded
.urY-led.
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SEC'lION
PROGRESSItEPORT
ltEPORT NO.
SECTION II ?ROGESS
NO, 19 Narch
Karch 31,
31, 1950
1950 .ft'urther investigation
?turther
investigation in
in the
the Coos
Coos Bay
Bay area
area concerning
concerning dredging
dredging
operations as affecting clam populationfJ
populations was carried on during the months
months
or
ana March.
of February and
Karch,
~as4 4ancLL(20
and 5 (20and
and30
30 acres
acres resective1y)
respectivel;g:)
Mas
DUIIlpage l~reu4
in aa cove
cove
Dumpage
Areas .4 and
and 55 (aee
(see attached
attached maps)
maps) are located.
located in
Cove I>
known as Jordan Cove0
Whereas:l
reaid.enta, there
Whereas, according to local residents,
"uaed
"need to
to be
be clema
clams here",
here", (Eastern
(Eastern solt
soft shell),
shell), Jordan Cove
Cove yielded
yielded no
no
searcho
clams atter
after an exhaustive search0
Nearly
Searly the entire
entire area is one
one of
of
very soft mud.,
mud, in some places hazardously SOo
eo
condition it is an atypical
atypical clam
clam area0
area..
In its present physical.
physical
There are possibl1'sane
possibly sane higher
be classes as marginal clam land for
areas along the bank that might be
the Eastern soft
sott shell but the fact remains that no clam beds exist
there at the presents
present
0
the opinial
opinion or
of the writers there could be no
In the
harm aone
hana
done in filling this area with dredge waste...
waste0
Area 6
(ten acres)
6 Lten
Area.
or shifting
sbifting
Area 6,
6, d01lllbay
downbay and across rrom
from Jordan Cove, consists of
sand..
sancL
No clams or other
ot.her shellfish
shellrish populations
populations of
0.1" importance
importance' are present
present
No
area., hence,
hence, t.here
in this area,
there can
can be
be seen
seen no
no objection
objection to
to using
using this
this as
as aa
spoils area0
area..
7
acres respectively)
respectiveIl)
Areas 7 and 8 (5 and 10 acre5
.sa,
narrow at this location, the main
main Coos Bay channel
channel
The bank is very narrow
cutting close
close to
to the
the bank0
bank..
cutting
similarly narrow0
narrowo
The proposed
proposed spoiis
spoils Areas
Areas '7
7 and 8 are
No clam beds exist
exist. within
within these
these areas0
areas.
,
,
-2-2­
Area 9
acres
9 (90
(92 ,acres}
9 appears to include the upper bay
Area 9
~ limit for the existence
existence
of horseclaJas
in Coos Bay.
horseclams in
Bay
Eel grass has established itself over the
lower (downbay) portion
portion of
of the
the flats
flats in
in this
this area
area and
and the
the borseclaxns
horseclaln.s
mB¥
found in
in small
small numbers
numbers on
on the
the side
side channels
channels and
and lower
lower edges
edges of
of
may be found
the tide
tide flats.,
fiats o
is exposed
exposed only
only at
at the
the
The entire area, at present, is
lowr
low tine
tide series,
series" zero
zero feet
feet ororbelow.,
below
lower low
0
Chart
indicates the
Chart No.,
No 0 :33 indicates
approximate limit
limit of
of existence
existence of
ot the
the horseclani
norseclam upb~,
approximate
upbay, and
and locates the
beds of
of clams
clams in
in this
thisarea.,
area.
beds
An occasional
occasional little-neck,
litt.le-neck, Venerupie
Venerup1s
staminea, may
~ also
also be
be found
found in
inconjunction.,
conjunction"
t.he numbers or
of clams
clams in the
the stippled
stippled area
area are
are not
Although the
not
large,
"
it is felt
felt, they
thq should
should not
not be
be destroyed, it practical to avoid doin
<10in6
,!2o
so.,
Therefore, it is suggested that,
that, if at all possible, the placement
of wastes in Area 9 should be contined
(upbq) portion
portion
confined to the upper (upbay)
above the
the line
line of
of horeeclam
horseclamexistence.,
existence..
above
The area above this
this line is
6 previously
previously' discussed, being
being composed
composed of
ot shifting
shifting
very similar to Area 6
sand,
sand, and not supporting
supporting any
any valuable
valuable shellfish
shellfish populations0
populations"
One sample of
of horseclams
horseclam5 taken
taken in
in Area
Area 99 March
Maroh 8,
S, 1950
1950 averaged
averaged
lIS
118 millimeters
millimeters in
in length
length and
and resulted
resulted in
in aa 26.,3
26 .. 3 percent
percent recover;y
recovery of
usable meat as canpared
caapared with the
the whole 'eighte
weights in
in the
the shell0
shello
This
percent recovery,
recovery, as well as visual inspection
inspection of
of the gonads,
gonads J showed
showed
the clams to be very
ver,y fat,
of spawning0
spawningo
fat, the majority showing evidence of
evi<1ence of spawning
spawning agrees very
very nicely
nicely with
with the
the spawning
s paTdling tine
till1e
This evidence
of tiorseclams
hors8clams in
Coos Bay.
Bay 0
in the
the other
other areas
areas of Coos
reason to
There is reason
bC:!lievethat
thatthis
thisbed
bedofofclanis
clams wouln
waul.d increase
increase in
in numbers
numbers if
i f given
given aa
blievo
Chance
to do
do so.,
130 0
chance to
3o.
Area 10
10
(35açres)
05
a.qres)
proposed thunpage
dumpage area
high water
water line
line there
there cari
~an
As this proposed
area is above high
shellfish populations in
in this area0
area..
be no damage done to shellfish
4}'ea
II (55
(55 acres)
Across frau
from Empire,
Empire, Oregon,
Oregoo, are
are the
the corrunerciafly
commercially important
important horseclam
horseclam
beds where much
the open season..
much digging takes place during th~
season0
Last year
one of these beds was badly treated when dredge waste was allowed to
be dumped atop the bed0
bed" The resulting waste covered
covered one-third of the
clam bed in question with app~tely
of rock,
rock, silt,
silt,
approximately a five-foot mat of
anti rriu&,
and
mud.
have shown
shown a asilting
Numerous inspections of this area
area have
silting or
washing action taking place,
place, the result being that the remainder of"
of
soft
the bed to the northeast has been silted over with five inches of soft
mud.
mud,
0
greatly reduced the number of
of clams
clams in that
This action has greatly
that
A sample of horseclama
A
horsec1.ams- taken
t~en from
fran this
this area
area March
Karch 8,
8, 1950
area.
area.,
in aa 22(,5
2~Q5 percent
live
resulted in
percent recover.y
recoverr of
of useable meat from whole live
weight.
weight,
Directly across
across aa small
small back
back channel
channel£f rom this bed is
1s dumpage
d\lll1page
Directly
Area ll?
1l
that there might be danger in allowing
It was first thought that
the waste to
to be
be dumped
dumped there
there through
throu;:h washing
washing arid
and. silting0
siltingo
But the
direction of washing appears to be northeasterly or bankward and if
this be the case no damage is expected to adjoining
bed o However,
adjoining clam bed0
it is im~erative
spoils be held within,
imperative that the spoils
within, the present proposed
area0
area.
summa.rx
remaining clam
The importance
iml-'Ortance of
of saving
saving the
the ~ning
clam bed
'bed. in Coos Bay
Bay
cannot be
cannot
be over-stressed,
over-stressed.
Both
size of
least
Eoth numbers
numbers and
and average
average size
of at
at least
-4­
decreased in the past.
several years"
years, Any additional
the borseclam
horseclam iiave
have decreased
past several
to the
the dwindling
dwincUing population
populat.ion of
ot clams
clams would
lIIOuld certainly
certainl;J bó
be ill..advised.
ill-advised..
blows to
hith the aore
canplete knowledge
lalowledge of clam
clam flats
t1a.ts as to
to location,
location, species
species
With
more conpiete
present,
approximate abundance,
abundance, and
and other important factors,
factors# better
better
present, approximate
protection will be
be offered
offered to
to the
the beds
beds by
bl riot
not allowing
allowing maltreatment
maltreatment
ot
natural resource.
resource.
of this natural
b.Y deliberation the tredging
~redging program as
Whether by accident or by
outlined for 1949-1950
1949-1950 by
by the
the Army
Amy Engineers
Engineers would
would not
not do
do an
an extensive
extensive
amount or
areas ..
of damage even it
if no changes were made in the dumpage areas,
However,
careful investigation of the areas
areas it
would be
be advisable,
advisable,
however, by careful
t would
and is suggested, that in dumpage Aràa
Area 99 the waste be
be held
held upbay
upbay
towarcis the North Send
Bend Airport as much as possible
possible to
to avoid
avoid the
the killkill­
towards
population on the lower
lower flats
flats of
of that
that region.
region..
ing of the horseclam population
To the best of our
our knowledge
knowledge Areas
Areas 4,
4, 5,
5, 6,
6, 7,
7, 8,
8, 10,
10, and
and 11
11 can
can be
be
of doing
doing any
any damage
damage to
1:.0 shellfish
shellfish populations,
populations,
used without fear of
prOViding
boundaries ..
providing the spoils are held within the designated boundaries,
Roger ToUel'son,
Tollefson,
1..awell
D.. Marriage,
Harriage,
Lowell D,
Biologists"
Aquatic Biologists0
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