OYSTER DERBY

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 24, 29 January 1935, Page 8

OYSTER DERBY

OPENING OF SEASON

SOUTHLAND INDUSTRY

REACHING THE MARKET

The southern oyster season, during which oysters are dredged from Foveaux Strait, opens on Friday, and arrangomciits are already in train for the running of the Oyster Derby, an event that has taken place on the first day of tho season for many years. Although this event doe 3 not carry any valuable prize, it is always eagerly contested and constitutes the great evont of the oyster season. While tho oyster season is closed the oyster banks in the strait may not bo disturbed, but as soon as the season opens dredging .commences. Tho dredgers act on the assumption that the strokes of midnight usher in tho first day of the "season, and - consequently trawling is commenced as soon after tho midnight hour as possible. Tho fishmongers who buy ,the catch also cousidor that the earliest- oysters are tho best and vio with one another to have the first on the market. Their eagerness suggested a race to a newspaper editor who inaugurated the Derby, the idea "catching on" with some astonishing results. The "Southland Times'' simply announced that a race would take place on the day tho season opened, and that the winner would bo the fishmonger who delivered tho first parcel ot oysters at tho "Times" office; the fishmongers did the rest, and the Derby became an annual event. To such an extent has the race gripped tho minds of the people of Southland that the fish merchants are given the right of way or. the 18 miles of highway between Bluff and Invercargill, while other travellers pull off the road. ■ ' • t . WINNING THE RACE. 'Some years'ago one merchant invested 'in - a powerful touring car and doclared that be - would win. the Derby as-he had'tried the'car out and could do 80 mile's'an-hour with it. He made careful arrangements? with1' a trawling company, and one of -the trawlers entered the harbour.early in the day with a number of sacks of oysters, on deck. As soon as-it reached * the wharf -the merchant jumped aboard, seized a sack of, oysters, heaved" it'-into, the,'rear seat of his car,' aiid disappeared in a cloud of, dust -before his competitors realised what had happened. Another merchant was quick to ,grasp the situation, seized a ' sack 'regardless ,of. .whether it. was meant'for him or not, and set out] in hot pursuit."-Unfortunately for the second starter his truck ..was a rather wheezy specimen, and the powerful roadster beat him by a wide margin. The two following,years saw the same roadster win again, but when its owner arrived in InvercargilL on the fourth occasion fully convinced' that he had bettered the "hat trick," he.discoveTed that an opponent had . arrived some hours earlier. .Bitter recriminations followed and careful investigations were made, but there was nothing to prove that the successful racer had dredged his oysters before the, first day of the month commenced, and ,the matter was dropped. 'So keen has the competition grown that tho merchants plan and scheme for some time before the season opens to beat one another in.,> the race. Fast motor-launches may be brought into use to rush the first of the catch from thetrawler to the harbour, "and there is even a suggestion that an aeroplane will bo used on Friday, but it is doubtful if anything other than a seaplane could assist the eager contestants. VALUE OF ADVERTISING. , Many peoplo have wondered why the merchants go to so much trouble and expense for the sake of winning a race that carries no prize, but the secret of the.whole affair is that tho merchants realise that there is one very good prize to be won with the race—publicity or advertising. Tho race is always fully reported, and there-1 are -.always many members of tho public wtio buy oysters from the v winher of the Derby, receiving odd details of the race while making Vheir purchases. The oyster beds in Foveaux Strait are very extensive, and no one knows how they first came there. It has been claimod that thoy were planted by accident, a vessel from Australia dumping a sack of oysters there many years ago/ but the old shells ,dredged up indicate that the beds have been thero since before the advent of the European to New Zealand waters. The; dredges used dig into tho muddy bottom, but the mud is washed away as the oysters, are brought to the surface, only oysters, seashells, starfish, crabs, and other odds and ends from the deep .being dumped on .the deck of the trawler.. ■. -'•'}'. On the night before the- season, opens the. fishermen of IBluff do not sleep. They have their boats in readiness" and aa midnight approaches they slip quietly out of the harbour and head for the oyster beds. ' Picking up their positions by landmarks' on ■ the. mainland,-1 Stewart Island, and the Titi islands1, if there is a moon, they drop their dredges and steam along until tho drag" of the net tells that it has filled. The catch is then hoisted inboard and dumped on tho dock, where the sorters sot to work while another drag is made. The best of the oysters are sorted out with marvellous dexterity and the waiting sacks are filled, tho rest of the catch being dumped overboard. WORKING THE BEDS. The quality and size of the catches vary according to tho location, weather, and various other factors, but most of the trawler crews aro experts at selecting good spots for dredging before the season has advanced very far. Tho dredging, after tho first rush, is always carried on in daylight, as the trawler captains depend on landmarks for their bearings and these cannot always be seen-at night. The trawlers go out in the early mornings, including Sundays, when catches are made for Tailing north by the night express, and return to harbour during the afternoon. Sometimes, they load ■ quickly, but at other times the .work of gettiag a.cargo is long and arduous, a bad run of luck on poor "ground" sometimes leaving an exasperated crew with a very light cargo at the end of the day. . Tho Foveaux Strait, or Bluff oysters, as they aro usually called, aro very popular in the south and reach a wide market fur to the north. As they remain alive for some days after' being taken from the water they can be sent for fairly long distances and can be kept in good condition by the merchants by "feeding" with a mixture or oatmeal and water. ,Why. such a mixture should agree with the oysters no one seems to know, but when oysters have to be kept for an extra day U has become a recognised practice to pour a mixture of oatmeal.and water over the oyster sacks. THE OYSTERS ASHORE. Skill in1 handling tho oysters does not end with'the sorters on the trawlers, as many of the fish merchants in the south are very adept at opening the shells and can dispose of several sacks in a very short time. Some of the ultimate purchasers, too, filaim great ability,' but that is in the eating o_ oysters off "the shell" by the dozen, compcti-

tions between rival oyster eaters being not infrequently arranged at Bluff or tnvorcargill. The southern oyster ' industry is » very considerable one, providing- employment for a largo number of men, and it is a source of pride to Southland, visitors to Invercargill being honoured by being escorted to Bluff to taste the Foveaux Strait oysters fresh from the sea. For visiting football team* this visit to the port is a standard part of the itinerary, and more*than one team has departed from the south wlt» its members laughingly claiming taat Southland defeated them by tempting . them to eat too many oysters on t»» morning of the match.