OYSTER CULTIVATION

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23048, 27 May 1938, Page 10

OYSTER CULTIVATION

Rock oysters are annually becoming more and more of a rare delicacy in Auckland and as yet there is no indication of the period for which they will be marketed in the season to commence next month. Of recent years oysters have been available only in small quantities and for seasons which have become progressively shorter. The Marine Department, which has a monopoly of the rock oyster industry, has turned a persistently deaf ear to suggestions that private enterprise should be given an opportunity of expanding production by intensive cultivation of the foreshores. The success of "oyster farming" in New South Wales has been ignored and the department has adopted the short-sighted attitude of endeavouring to conserve existing stocks without giving proper thought to the expansion of supplies for the future. The basic fault has been the unimaginative outlook which has always been the besetting sin of departmentalism. An additional handicap arises from the fact that the Marine Department, as far as its share of public revenues is concerned, is a "Cinderella" department, with the control of fisheries as only one of its many activities. In consequence, attempts made at oyster cultivation have been rendered negligible by lack of funds. The problem is not of this Government's making, but, as a Government, it is responsible for the policy that if private enterprise fails the State should step'in. That being so it should also be prepared to accept the reverse and, when a State monopoly has broken down, give private individuals a chance to retrieve the position. The Sea Fisheries Investigation Committee recently recommended private cultivation of rock oysters on a limited scale and this has been welcomed as a hopeful change from the official attitude of the past. Legislation will probably he necessary to give effect to the recommendations and it is to be hoped the Government will take an early opportunity of stating its intentions..