THE STATE AS OYSTER MAN.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 156, 26 March 1908, Page 8

THE STATE AS OYSTER MAN.

CONSERVING AUCKLAND BEDS. ' : On May 1 the State will take up its newest role of. oyster man. There \have been too. many oyster, men in ,tho past; for the, proper survival of the Auckland beds. The oysters on the 'foreshores of tho' Hauraki Gulf and Bay of; Islands have been torn' .from- their native rocks without discrimination of age or. growth, and it is a wonder that tho race is not extinct. The Government enforced a period of truce, during which the oysters have been free to increase; and multiply in peace, . but the previous war of indiscriminating oyster pickers .had so . .reduced 'thorn that very few of the beds have yet recovered. The youthful oyster, before lie has filled out his shell, clings very tenaciously to his rock. The ruthless fingers that try.' to tear him from it most often .break his covering, when the spilled bivalve is useless to himself or man. It is this slaughter of tho innocents that has wrought havoc with the Auckland oyster beds. Another cause of their depletion' is 'that not . sufficient adult oysters have been loft for spawning purposes. In futuro the Government will appoint oyster pickers, who will be men of discretion. ■ Instead of laying violent hands • on' every .oyster within reach, they will select from among the fittest, leaving tho flatshelled youthful specimen's and sufficient adults to carry on the race. \

Mr. L. F. Ayson, Government Inspector of Fisheries," who has just returned from an inspection of the 1 Northern beds, states that those to be opened will probablv bo : tho Waiheko and Sandspit Island beds, in tho Hauraki Gulf, which have been closed up for about nine years; the. Great Barrier Island, bed, which has been unmolested for eight years, and the middle sub-division' of tho Bay of Islands fishery,. which' has been closed for seven yoars. These bods wero found to bo in excellent condition, and if thoy aro carefully culled, Mr. Ayson believes that they should yield a large crop of vory fine oysters. Other beds will-'be opened from timo to time, as they recover from" tho effects of. past despoilments. • •

The Marine Department .will open a depot, in Auckland, where the bivalves will bo sold wholesalo. Thoy will also bo sold at Russell and other places. Tho expert nickers' whom the Department will employ will work under tho supervision of. an overseer.