rayke1938

From Wynnum Manly historical society. Cheers Ray Southern Queensland Oyster Industry Summary of Paper presented by Glen S Smith at RHSQ meeng 22 October 1981. The oyster industry ourished from the 1870’s to around 1920, peaking at the turn of the centaury and declining from 1910. The edible Sydney Rock oyster (Saccostrea commercialis) was found on the wide inter-dal ats in southern Qld. At that me oyster shing was the most organized of the shing industries. In 1891 21,000 sacks of oysters worth £29,100 were exported from southern Queensland to Melbourne, Sydney and Perth. 1824 – 1863 (Oyster Act) From rst European selement in 1824 the oyster beds were over-exploited and decimated. There was no licens- ing, regulaon or control. Everyone helped themselves. Most exploitaon was not for food but for the producon of lime to make mortar to construct the houses and buildings of early Brisbane 1863 Aenon was drawn to the wasteful pracce of lime burning and on 22 September 1863 a Bill was introduced to the Legislave Assembly for the protecon of oysters. Penales for burning live oysters were either a ne of up to £10, or imprisonment for up to 3 months. Oyster gatherers had a fee of £5 to lay down oysters on dened oyster beds. Dredge oysters were found in the mid 1860’s below low de and collected by means of a dredging basket aached to a boat. The oysters were larger, tasted beer and brought top prices. 1870 There was a realisaon that the 1863 Act did not give enough protecon.. Very large quanes of oysters were being exported to southern markets and the dredge beds were being dredged out. A closed season was suggested. 1874 A more comprehensive Act was introduced concerning the leasing of the oyster beds. In 1874 the rst aucon of dredge secons was held in Brisbane providing revenue to the Government. By 1884 Moreton Bay was divided into 39 secons, extending to 2’below low water mark. The leases ran for a 7-year term with an annual fee of ve pounds. Moreton Bay Oyster Company was founded on 11 August 1876 and was the largest company in the Queensland oyster industry unl the 1920’s. Premiers Sir Arthur Hunter Palmer and Sir Thomas McIlwraith were shareholders. However the 1874 Bill was inadequate. Lease me of 7 years was too short. . In 1882 Captain C S Fison dues in- cluded being Inspector of Oyster Fisheries. But he spent considerable me administering the expanding oyster in- dustry, from the NSW border to Noosa. He presented the rst oyster report in 1884. His reports were used for the framework for the 1886 Oyster Act. By 1886 there were 178 oyster banks covering 5000 acres with as average of 70 acres per lease. It was felt that the 1874 Act needed updang to remedy the praccal administraon defects of the old Act. The Act of 1886 saw 14- Cont. on next page Issue 124 ABN 49 071 835 845 I ISSN 1835-8500 (Print) ISSN 2652-1083 (Digital) August 2020 9 Cont. from previous page year dredge leases. There was a reward for persons discovering new dredge oyster beds. Oysters had to measure 5cm to prevent banks being stripped of the small oysters. NSW did not put any restricons of the collecon of oys- ters unl 1868, ve years aer Queensland, so their beds were in poor shape. Moreton Bay was used for maturing and faening the young oysters from the northern spat catching beds of the great Sandy Strait region. Here in Moreton Bay the oysters grew more rapidly and developed a beer shape than if allowed to remain in the northern beds. In 1905 the coastal steamer “Lady Lamington” carted14,000 sacks of cul- ture down to Moreton Bay for re-laying where 12-18 months’ growth produced oysters in prime condion. On 13 April 1889, to encourage the blossoming industry, 26 reserves for oystermen were gazeed around Moreton Bay, ranging from 5 acres to 40 acres. Oystermen were allowed to camp, build houses and fence-in small allot- ments, so long as they paid their annual licence. Prior to this many unocial camp sites had existed. A small school was established in 1890 at Currigee on Stradbroke Island and some me later a second school at Coombabah, 11 kilometers north of Southport.. These were the two largest camps and were composed mainly of Aborigines and coloured employees of the Moreton Bay Oyster Company. Disease brings disaster Mud worm disease rst appeared about 1880 in oysters in the Hunter River of NSW. If the Sydney markets were glued, NZ oysters were stored in the Hunter River to keep them fresh, unl prices rose again. This storage was thought to be the source of the disease. The disease was rst noced in southern Queensland in 1895 on the banks at the mouth of the Coomera River in the lower inter dal and dredge secons. The disease, caused by a small red worm, is harmless to man but made aected oysters unacceptable. The disease spread rapidly through southern Moreton Bay and by 1899 the number of secons had dropped from 36 to 18 and the number of banks from 421 to 292. Over one hundred banks were closed temporarily. Many men were thrown out of work By 1903 the industry was relavely sound again and by 1905 the southern part of Moreton, in the Broadwater, was almost free of the disease and relaying of oysters into the secons was resumed. Pumicestone passage at this me was suering badly from the eects of the disease, which was not dispersed unl 1925. The disease never went further north that the Maroochy River. Oyster men became very cauous in their operaons and largely aban- doned the dredge secons which were more suscepble to worm infestaon. Mud worms were not the only detriment to the oyster industry. Various oods such as that in 1893, destroyed whole oyster beds, as de levels and currents were altered. Similarly the breakthrough at Jumpinpin on Stradbroke Island in May 1898 disrupted the industry. During the decade from 1901 – 1910 the industry reached its peak for the number of men employed banks leased and boats licensed. The greatest part of producon came from the banks. Dredge oysters comprised only 20%. The value of the shery was around £12,000 per annum excluding local consumpon and about £2,000 was collect- ed in Government licenses and rental fees. From 1910 there was a gradual decline. No single cause could be idened. In 1913 a ve-man Treasury Depart- ment commiee was set up to report on the industry and to redra legislaon.. But measures introduced were too late to help the ailing industry. Mud worm disease had de-stabilised the industry. Pests, disease, predators, compeon form NZ markets and man’s mistakes all contributed. Oyster thes were a major problem in some areas. Oystermen thieved from each other’s beds. The public helped themselves!. There were few inspectors. Occasional nes had lile eect. Oyster men were recent to expend money on oyster banks over which they could not keep a watch. Large companies aempted to monopolise the industry to force out the smaller growers. By 1936 Qld was imporng NSW oysters, this being a major contributor to the decline of the Qld industry. Today Qld oyster producon is only 1/10 of that produced in the peak years. The majority of oyster bank licenses are now employed on a part me basis. Oyster operaons are restricted in Tourist areas and near sewage oualls. Apart from the occasional place named aer an oysterman, the remnants of some oyster camps and a few old men’s memories lile remains of the once thriving industry.

Worse thing when you drop the trailer off the ball is when the ramp has a slope on it and you also have to pull the trailer back to the tow ball.

38 bass between 32 and 43cm today the westerly made it a bit hard at times. Be careful on the ramp if you have to go knee deep as it is quite slippery if you are wearing crocks. Shrimp have improved since I moved the traps into around 6 feet of water. Cheers Ray

Number 4 and when at home stand behind her and tell her she is doing everything wrong. Just be careful of flying rolling pins.

yes normally holding a durry

Collectors item

Went to Western arm this morning with Hai and Mark. Ended up with 48 bass with only a few around 40cm. Someone needed 4 of our shrimp traps just cutting the ropes off and leaving them dangling from the trees.It is a while since we have rebaited the pots and the shrimp were very dark and large.Most of the fish were caught among the trees on Ians Island and the entrance to bass bay. Cheers Ray

Few more photos.

Went to NPD this morning with new AFO member Neil Stratford and Grant.As we had no shrimp left over from last trip we had to resort to trolling lures to where we had our shrimp traps. Grant managed a lone bass on a yellowy looking thing with hooks hanging out of its bum. By the time we had done our shrimp pots we decided it was not worth while heading back upstream to try some of our usual spots so we headed over to the drop off opposite our traps to find someone already there pulling in bass regularly. We tried around them and pulled around 10 bass before deciding to go downstream to try greener pastures. We found a few small schools but as soon as we hooked a fish they would move. We only went as far as the fig tree and returned upstream to only add a few more fish to the tally. Final score was 24 bass ,1 yella and one tandan. Best bass probably only 42cm. Grant and Neil both caught tagged bass. Cheers Ray

You still wielding the willow or no opportunity over there? Cheers Ray

You going to have a timer on the bilge pump?

Forget the durry lighter install a nicorette dispenser.

Guilty your honour. Wife is strange only likes salt water fish.

Both. We went to Nerang they must have had more rain than us the water was as brown as the Logan. We fished from council chambers up to Cararra and could only find the odd white ring. Lots of 3 inch bream stealing the wrigglers.

Must admit they tasted ok. Just worried my finger and toe nails may fall out. Thanks Neal and Grant for looking after the old bloke.