BLUFF OYSTERS.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXXIII, Issue 15920, 4 May 1912, Page 9

BLUFF OYSTERS.

AN ACCOUNT OF THE FISHERIES. THE HARVEST OF THE SEA. (By PHILIP DOZENDOWN.) There are a few general facts worthy of mention in connection with oysters which are not frequently brought before tho public notice. This well-known mollusc, so highly valued as human food and prized because of its delicious flavour, is altogether a strange creature. In adult life it is purely seden-. tary in its habits, and in common with many kinds of shell-fish is quite inoapa'ble of voluntary movement. The oyster illustrates a curious departure from what is perhaps the most characteristic feature of living beings at large —their power of acting and moving in greater or less degree. Yet research shows that though' apparently a fixed motionless organism, tho oyster may be a veritable centre of the busiest living industry. It begins its life within certain limits as a free-swimming active particle, and if afterwards it may seem to be almost dormant in its stillness, the immobility is but superficial, and the tides and currents of its life are as vigorous in their way as those of tho ocean itself.

In favourable situations, such as. are found in the- Foveaux Straits, oysters accumulate in "beds," the gregarious habit being due to the fact that the young are delivered in swarms, which are driven about by currents, against which they are unable to swim, and when once' fixed they cannot change their position. Taking the general average for tho world, these beds are found" at depths ranging from three to twenty Oysters live upon Various kinds of microscopic organisms which abound in salt water, and which by the action of the gills are made to play about' their bodies. It is very necessary if oysters are to be used as articles of diet that the water in which they live should be kept free from contamination by suspended mud-particles, which are often' injurious to them. There can be no doubt that it is due t» pollution in this way that the once numerous" oyster beds of the Firth'of ; Forth have now disappeared. The utility of the oyster as food is not a recent, nor even a modern, dis- . oovery, as is proved by the fact that great piles of the shells have been found ' in the refuse heaps of ancient,dwellings ', in various parts of Europe. And,it-is, . further, evident that British oysters were highly priced by the Romans.in the days of Agrippa. In modern times, '. the supply having rapidly fallen off, it has been found necessary in Bonio places to practice oyster culture, and measures are now taken to protect the breeding oysters and secure the absolute purity of the water. In some parts of the world artificial beds, or culturegrounds, are formed. In France and elsewhere the full-grown oysters are " fattened " iai j ponds well supplied with green alga', or weed. Thus the flavour is improved. There is "no need for these aids and precautions on the part of those en-, gaged in .the oyster fisheries at the Bluff, the grounds within their reach being sufficiently productive and per- ' fectly safe. Tho trade at the southern port has a well-deserved reputation ' which fears no rivalry. It has, too, steadily increased, and koeps several firms constantly active during the sea- ' son. The oyster fisheries began at the ; Bluff early in the sixties, an old identity still * resident in tho Bluff, _Mr Thomas Cross, being the first to "pick" them. • It was his custom to tako over : to_ Stewart Island and Ruapuko sup--1 plies of tea, sugar, flour, tobeicco and ' other commodities, for which the 1 "Maoris would make payment in oysters. He would then take or send them in small craft to Dunedin, and even Melbourne. Messrs Britt and Wheeler ' also did much business in this line in the' early days. The location- of the • oyster grounds remains the same now ■ as then, lying between Bluff, Ruapuke and Stewart Island. The beds, 1 however, are not consistently distributed throughout this area, but are somewhat "patchy," to use the term in common vogue. Only once has a bed been abandoned, this being due to its having been overworked. The quality of the,'oyster shows no sign of diminution,', though it varies slightly • from season to season. Last year, for example, it was at an exceptionally > low level, but the present season is, : from every point of view, considered to be a good one. During the vear 1911 the represented | tives of "the trade applied successfully i to the Minister of Marine for an alteration in the season, owing to the ' hot weather, of the month of February. ' Hitherto; the season extended over 1 eight months;' namely, from February 1 to September 30, but from now on it will runi instead, from March to 1 October, a month later. The remain- ' ing months of the year constitute the reproductive period, the laryte underPom<r the earlier stages .of their deve--1 iopment. During this period, the oys- ■ ter is, of course, out of season, or The dredging is done by three steamers of from twenty-five to forty tonDage, and six ■ auxiliary cutters of twentv tons each, propelled by oil en T gines'of from, ten to fifteen .horsepower. Each of the steamers employs six hands, while the auxiliary boats require three or four eaoli, thus making a total of from forty to fifty men engaged, when the weather and sea conditions are favourable, in dredging operations. Tho boats commonly leave port early in the morning and return, laden, in the evening, and the weatherbeaten " oystermen ". are always, and justly, glad whon tho day's toil is over. The question is sometimes raised in the popular mind as to whether tlio oysters at the Bluff fisheries yield any quantity of pearls. The answer is short and simple. What are found are srna 1 and of no value; they are not worth looking for, and no one makes any serious search for them. As a matter of fact, though poarls axe produced by. a considerable variety of molluscs only in two families do they occur with such a decree of constancy as to make sys-. tematic quest for them a matter of commercial profit. These are the marine Aviculidae, including tie so-called pearl oysters, and tile fresh-water Unioiudae, a family of river mussels. The former variety produces the most valuable pearls True pearls are not extracted from the oysters found in Foveaux Strait. The greatest enemy of the oyster, as known to the Bluff fisheries, is what is, from its shape and other features, called the " five-finger. J hey ore verv numerous, and are hauled 5 aboard 'in the process of dredging in | great quantities. The five-finger, as it patiently waiting its opportunity,

stealthily insert* one of its limbs when the oyster "yawns," and haying secured a place of vantage puts m. another, and, if necessary, yet another "uger, and its victim is soon overcome. But there aro certain parasites sometimes found within the bivalves, and which, ensconced there for life, thrive at tho expense of their victims, which they may destroy in the end. These are not so numerous as the rive-fingcr. The starfish is another natural enemy of the oyster, though not so serious in. its effects. Oysters taken in the Foveaux Strait grounds should bo distinguished from what are known as "rock" and " mud " oysters. They are strictly "ocean-bed" oysters, and aro perfectly hoalthy . and sai'o for human food. I They are in great demand among the residents of the Bluff and Stewart j Isla.nd themselves. ■

The sea, as known to tho people occupied in these fisheries, is anything but a dreary waste. Yet even they, perhaps, hardly realise its tremendous productiveness* Like ' the 'land, it

yields an abundant harvest. But there is this difference between tho .harvest on land and that of tho ocean. Tho farmer can only reap if he has first sown tho seed; but tho fisherman, on tho other hand, gathers from tho waters year after year without contributing anything to them. It is with him all harvest and no seed time, 'and yet he cannot, .exhaust the resources of tho sea.