The Northern Advocate Daily WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE Northern Mail Daily. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1914. THE OYSTER INDUSTRY.

Northern Advocate, 22 September 1914, Page 4

The Northern Advocate Daily WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE Northern Mail Daily.

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1914. THE OYSTER INDUSTRY.

REGISTERED FOR TRANSMISSION THROOGF - r iv ['(IST i <•■■ a, SS VWS P A P X R TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 1914. OYSTER INDUSTRY.

That the Marine Department is at length prepared to take into favourable consideration the Chamber of Commerce's request for the replanting of rock oysterbeds in Whangarei harbour, is a matter for-much gratification, and Aye hope that the department's deliberations Avill result in an. early ■ materialisation of the project. One is apt to wonder Avhy the representations made time and again in . the course of several past years have not succeeded in securing departmental countenance, seeing that the conditions for conducting the industry*in local Avaters are suitable in evei;y respect. The rocks about the harbour bestrcAvn plentifully with half-shells testify to the fecundity of the oyster here despite all the depredations, and *how that under proper management and strict surveillance the oyster harvest Avould amply repay rhe outlay. Hitherto the supervision has been incapable of watching all the scattered patches, •md evasion of the law has consequently been a very simple affair. EveryAA'here .the beds have been ruthlessly stripped by undetected offenders, and very rarely indeed has anyone been caught in the act and brought to book. Nominally the beds have been sealed against the public for many years on end; actually they have been ransacked Avith almost open impunity by anybody Avho cared to take the trouble and keep an occasional eye lifted harbour-Avards for the improbable appearance of the laAv's representatives.' The only way to counteract this species of poaching is to limit the # area to a scope AA r hich may be readily protected, and yet large enough for all reasonable supply purposes. There are seA'-eral such compacted and adaptable areas Avithin the harbour. The extension of the present commercialised system of oyster culture to the Whangarei waters would he beneficial as proAiding an- alternative to the areas at Russell and elseAAdiere, and there AA'.ould never be any question as to the d_aand meeting the supply. The department did the community a good turn_.when it made oysters cheaply available, arid it has been proved that the State is no loser thereby. While the Marine Department. hoAA r ever, has brought the cost down and looks for no profit from the "scheme, it would appear that other departments are disinclined to help on similar lines by making any concessions.. When the State industry was first inaugurated it Avas pointed out in this column that the railway charges Avere anomalously high by comparison Avith steamer freights. That anomaly still exists. A sack of' oysters brought direct from Russell by rail to Whangarei'will cost some three shillings more than a sack taken from Russell to Auckland and thence brought most of the Avay back again to Whangarei by ssteamer. The net cost price is the same in Russell as in Auckland, the Avhole difference being in freight expenses. As a matter of fact, the charge for conveying a sack, of oysters from Opua to Whangarei by rail is as much as the fare paid by a secondclass passenger, and since the oyster is proverbially reticent in this as in other matters, Aye venture to point out on his behalf that he

! does not get the accommodation j (per sack) that the charge entitles j him to. On the one hand the Mail me Department is trying to help | the public, and on the other the j Kaihvay Department is making I those good offices nugatory. The j Chamber of Commerce has sue- ! ceeded in one particular, and as it i must be at least four years before ■ local residents can take cheap advantage of State oyster beds in ' our own harbour, here is another ; subject on Avhich the Chamber might again exercise its ingenuity and influence.