The Mason County journal. [volume] (Shelton, W.T.) 1886-1927, 1898-04-15
Mason County Oyster Industry.


Its infancy. There are thousands of
acres of tide land on Puget Sound ca
pable of producing oysters by diking.
The name Olympia oysters is no
longer appropos as most Of our oyster
come from Mason county and the
Shoalwaier Bay district There is
such demand for Olympia (Oyster Bay)
oysters that the oysters are not allow
ed to get their growth but are most all
shipped before they are two years old.
The worst enemy the oysters have
on Oyster Bay is a big black duck, call
ed the coot. They arrive early in the
fall and don't leave till spring. They
cover the water surrounding the oys-
ter beds and dive and feed on the
young oysters all day long, all winter,
the bay in some places being black
with them. They are protected by
the smart game law, part of the legis-
latiOn Of the last Legislature How
they can be classed as game I know
| not. The feathers connot be taken
from them in the ordinary way They
have to be skinned Then you come
to meat as black as charcoal and as
tough as rubber The next enemy the
oysters nave is called the periwinkle.
1t will balance itself on an oyster and
twirl rapidly around, drilling a small
hole, then sucking the meat from the
shell. The periwlnkle is an exact
copy Of small boys spinning top. 1t
Is a shellfsh. Next comes the starfish.
They to all appearance can not travel,
but old oystermen smile when this
subject is mentioned. One incident
will suffice to show that. A newly ar
rived farmer got boat load of starfsh
10 enrich his land. Taking them up
the bay few miles be dumped them
on the beach. That was in the even
ing. Next morning he came with his
cart to carry them off but they had
saved him the trouble. They had car
ned themselves off, in fact they were
spread over halt a dozen oyster claims,
making for deep water.
After years Of labor the oyster men
OF Oyster bay are rarely bothered with
starfish. Their determination was &C.
complished by keeping them from the
lower beds, preventing them from get
thug up the bay on the main beds A
starfish can be tor in seven or eight
pieces and cast back in the water, and
each piece will become separate star
fish. The surest way to kill them is to
cast them on the beach above high
water as they cannot travel excepting
in the water and they soon die.
/ The next drawback to the oyster
beds is the hOt sun in summer time
and freeZe-up in winter The hot sun
killing the young spat in the exposed
places and a heavy freeze killing all,
both old and young. However, these
big freeze-ups do not come very often,
/ thanks to our moderate climate, but
when they do come the loss is heavy.
During a freeze-up in '93 there was no
less than $4,000 worth of oysters
floating around Oyster bay, the shells
| having opened, allowing the oysters to
float off. They could be scooped up
/ by the bushel on the incoming tides
and vet the '93 freeze was not the
worst by far that the oyste1men have
! encountered in years gone by. In the
early eighties there was a freeze that
almost exterminated the oysters alto
gether Previous to that freeze they
we're selling for $3.50 per sack. After
the freeze 81 was freely offered per
sack and the buyers got but few at
that price. 1t took years to get the
beds back to their old standing.
Years ago in Olympia harbor there
were fine oyster beds. They belonged
to the people at large. If anyone was
wanting a mess of bivalves he would
90 and gather them for the festive
board, often inviting some visiting
stranger friend to partake Of these deli
cacies. In this way the fame and
quality OF the Olympia oysters became
known to the world at large. After a
time they were shipped to San Fran
cisco but at first there was not much
demand for them. But the Progress
i've Olympian soon caused demand
for OLYMPIA oysters. He hired men
! To 90 into the restaurants and call for
/ Olympia oysters. If he got them, well
and good if not he would get very IN
dignant and depart. This and other
means soon caused a big demand for
OLYMPIA oysters. They were quoted
at $40 per sack in Frisco and sold
HIGHER at times. But the establishing
Of beds for raising the eastern oyster
in that vicinity caused the demand to
fall and finally ceased altogether. But
the demand now in the home markets
Is larger than can be filled satisfacto-