Public oyster grounds in the Rappahannock River, Virginia were charted in 1976 and 1977 using an electronic positioning system to locate oysters, shell, sand, or mud. Hydraulically operated patent tongs were used to sample the bottoms to validate the charts. During this study 17277.6 ha of public bottoms were surveyed; of this total, 3845.3 ha was oyster reef, sand-shell or mud-shell bottoms; the remainder, 13432.3 ha (78%) was sand, mud or buried shell. The location, extent, topography and environment of the oyster producing areas are discussed. Setting of oysters, physiography and productivity were analyzed
