The Bridgeport times and evening farmer. (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1918-1924, 1920-09-30
OYSTER INDUSTRY
HERE THREATENED
| WITH EXTINCTION
Pollution of Sound Waters
Has Almost Destroyed
Business.
Old Timers Discourse
On Days Now Gone By
Only 15O Men Are Now
Working on Bridgeport
Oyster Fleet.
(By JOHN M. BRADLEY

Total extinction of the oyster in
dustry of Long Island Sound and
serious damage to 5aH marine food
products is the outlook today unless
some steps are taken, soon by State
authorities to check the ravages be-
ing made. by pollution of the waters
and to refertilize the oyster beds that
have SO long been THE foundation Of
a business that at one time extended
from Bridgeport to England and
Continental Europe and brought mill
lions of dollars to those engaged in
the industry here.
Since 1872 when the first seed oys-
tiers wre planted In the Sound at
Spindle Rock, near Fair Haven the
one for Bridgeport dredgers and time
was when during the season two
freighters made the port here and
cleared daily for New York loaded
in cracker barrels en- route for Euro
pean ports, In those early days at
Fair Haven, everybody worked in the
oyster business it being said that the
Haven We're the key factory and
'fshucking' oysters. A fleet of fifty
or mora oyster steamers put out from
that port each carrying a crew that
that number is greatly diminished
and is steadily losing strength as the
beds lose their producing value.
The first oysters were planted by
business which is today carried on
by his sons and the oyster steamer l.
E, Brown makes Bridgeport regular
" after being in active service almos.
fifty years, Her present skipper, Cap
tain Brown, Jr.. has sailed her for IS
years all that time having been de-
voted to the oyster game and the
waterfront scouts will tell you that
Capt Brown knows the oysters by
their first name. knows the secret of
their birth and the story Of their
life, They never tire of TELLING the
yarn about the time the captain
Detroit restaurant who was pulling
some wise ftalk about the oysters he
was eating and telling his friend that
| they were from Chesapeake Bay The
| bridgeport oyster man disa greed with
him and laid a wager that he could
| tell within five miles where the oys-
tiers came from and that he. could
also tell him the age Of the soyster.
The wager was accepted, Captain
| Brown told the story of the oyster
and then the cafe man said from
where they came. Brown was right.
They were Princess Bay oysters.
Two factors are working towards
the destruction of the oyster beds ad-
jacent to Bridgeport one of them, the
and by acid finding their way from
various mills on the FFousatonic river
into the waters Of tine Sound, not
| only seriously damaging the oyster
| sci put also WORKING untold de-
struction to the various food fish
that formerly abounded in great
numbers and afforded profitable bust
ness TO the Bridgeport fleet as well
as pleasure and food for the popula-
ton in general Today it is not
possible to keep the seeding oysters
In the waters adjacent to this city
They turn green, refuse to grow and
fat1en and are eventually a total loss
if an attempt is made to keep them
here to maturity, so that the dredger
from Bridgeport must sell his days
catch at Rockaway, Freeport, Green
port, or else sell to the steamers
which put in here to buy them. If
he sells at any one Of the first named
points he is to-day receiving about a
dollar per bushel. II he sells to the
steamer which calls here for them he
gets 65 to rs cents per bushel.
The oyster Is q peculiar and no.
Honable crjtter. He will spawn, .sset''
and grow to a couple Of years growth
in the waters adjacent TO this city
but he cannot be developed to the
finished product ready for the young
swain to treat his girl. Of to supply
the village church oyster supper in
the winter. He will breed in con-
/ tannznation but he must have clean
water In which to complies his
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