MENACED BY BORERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1005, 23 June 1930, Page 1

MENACED BY BORERS

SERIOUS TROUBLES FOR HAURAKI OYSTERS MARKET PREPARATIONS Troublous times have fallen on the oyster communities of the I-lauraki Gulf. What with the irking attentions of hordes of parasites and the thorough methods of collecting employed by suppliers to the Government depot, the oysters are in a bad way. All this distress has been brought about in a curious way. There was a time when schnappers, excellent friends of the oysters, fairly packed themselves into the Hauraki Gulf, feasting on the borers which destroy oysters. Intensive fishing has depleted the numbers of .schnappers, and the parasites have thrived at the expense of the oysters. The Government is now destroying the parasites, so it will be able to remove oysters in reasonable quantities for marketing. It is no case of “live and let live.” For the opening of the marketing season at the Government depot in the Market Place on Thursday, a substantial supply of oysters is being made available. In cool weather it is perfectly safe to store oysters for a week or more, according to the medical officer of health. Dr. T. J. Hughes, but there is no doubt that buyers prefer to secure their supplies in as fresh a condition as possible. In any case, the fate of the oysters is equally certain, and there are many Aucklanders who possess the most pleasant anticipations throughout the term of the Auckland oyster season. WILL OYSTERS DISAPPEAR? A lively sympathy must be felt for. the oysters. There are pessimists whJ* consider that the oysters will disappear, with the schnappers, from Hauraki Gulf. One remembers more satisfactory days when cruising parties in the Gulf could land at an island and fish for schnappers from oyster-cov-ered rocks. In those days, the schnappers were intent on feasting on the borers.

While the Hauraki oysters were developing their rock-like shells, the borers were equipping themselves with a tongue drill, lubricated with sulphuric acid, an acid with a quick and effective action on lime shells. A borer can drill through an oyster shell within 12 hours, according to actual observation. The boi'er also knows that, by drilling near the hinge of the shells, the muscle holding tho shells together can be bitten through. Three or four borers are frequently seen attached to one oyster; one borer drills at the hinge, and the others merely await the completion of the attack. The borers resemble large-sized periwinkles. The Fisheries Department now makes a payment for catches of borers. Along the East Coast the children of farmers striving to cultivate poor land can assist by securing payments for borer-catching. The department pays a shilling for 1,000 borers. Some men earn as much as 20s a day, and, in a recent fortnight, the department dealt with 2,200,000 parasites. The department also scrapes rocks clear of moss in order to gain a growing place* for young oysters.