The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1921-07-29
NORTH CAROLINA IS RECLAIMINC
LONGDEPLETED OYSTER INDUSTRY
State Fisheries Commission Plants 100000 Bush
els of Shells In State Waters This Year
Some Interesting Facts About Oysters

OF the greatest oyster producing
states in the union. North Car
olina>>has finally engaged in the
business of replenishihg her de-
pleted oyster beds and 100000
bushels of new oysters are be-
ing propagated in North Caro-
lima water this summer. Another
half million bushels will be got
ten under way next summer. And
never again will North Carolina
be shy of these luscious bivalves
so long as Nature does her part.
And hereby hangs an interesting
story.
The inland waters of North Caro-
lima once contained the finest oysters
on the Atlantic Coast, and thousands
of acres of them. But we paid no at
tention to the conservation of our nat
ural resources, especially oysters. An
oyster was anybody's property. Great
fleets of oyster boats came down into
North Carolina waters from Virginia
and took our oysters with dredges. Our
own oystermen took oysters with
dredges. The old time oyster dredge
literally cleaned out a bed of oysters.
leaving no oysters to spawn and moth
ing for the oyster spawn or spat to
faSten to.
How Oysters Propagate.
The oyster spawns in the early sum-
mer as soon as the waters in which it
lives reach a temperature of 20 de-
grees fahrenheit. This is usually in
the month of June. Aroused by this
amorous temperature the sex life of
the oyster begins to function and it be-
gins to eject its seed, spawn or spat
into the surrounding waters. This spat
drifts about over the floor of the sea.
carried hither and thither by tides and
currents, seeking something to fasten
to. It will not quicken and produce
oysters unless it comes in contact with
some rough substance to which it can
fasten, Otherwise it is dissipated in
the waters or is sucked up by hungry
fish.
The spat of the oyster fastens to the
rough shell of another oyster. That is
why one finds oysters growing in clus-
ters. The jeIly-ike spot will fasten as
readily to an empty oyster shell or an
old shoe. And oysters have been found
in bottles You may carelessly drop an
empty bottle into an oyster bed in the
spawning season and the spat of any
oyster finding it's way thru the narrow
neck of that battle will grow an oyster
in this glass prison. Bottles have been
found completely filled with oysters,
grown to the full size of the bottle and
ignorant people have been made to be-
iieve that by some trick of magic oys-
ters as big as ones hand may be crowd
ed into the thin neck of a pint flask.
The Fatal Oyster Dredge.
With these simple facts in mind one
can readily understand how the oyster
became nearly extinct in North Caro-
lima when we permitted any and every
body to invade our oyster beds with
dredges. Several years ago, when it
was almost too late, we barred the Nlr-
ginia oystermen from our waters and
enacted drastic laws prohibiting the
dredging of oysters in North Carolina,
permitting our oystermen to take oys-
ters from public beds only with tongs. /
Tongs do not work as thoroly as dredg- /
es. The dredge leaves nothing behind |
it. The tongs spill out about as many |
oysters as they recover, The tOngs give
the oysters a chance. If the tongs get |
even so much as four our of five bush |
els of OYSTERS the bushel remaining will |
yield enough spat in a season to pro- |
duce another five bushels.
Experiments conducted by the Z. S. |
Bureau of Fisheries and verified by the |
ion
Board show that a hundred bushels of !
oyster shells sown in an oyster bed will
produce five hundred bushels of oysters /
in two to three years.
What the State Is Doing.
And now as to how North Carolina
is restoring it's oyster industry. The
General Assembly of North Carolina at
it's session of 1921 appropriated $780,
900 under an act known as can Act
to Promote the Oyster Industry of
North Carolina by Proper Distribution
of Oyster Propagating Material Upon
The Depleted. Oyster Grounds" By the /
provisions of this act the North Caro-
lima Fisheries Commission Board was
authorized to spend $4,000 this year
and $4,000 in 1922. The $4,000 pro-
der the direction of Capt. John A. Mel
son, Fisheries Commissioner and the
result is that 100000 bushels of young
oysters and oyster shells have been
planted in depleted oyster beds cover
ing approximately 400 acres in the
counties of Carteret, Dare, Hyde and
Onslow. The same number of shells
will be planted in so many other beds
next summer.
And having planted this new propa-
eating material capable of yielding an
increase of va half million bushels of
oysters in North Carolina in two years,
the Fisheries Commission Board has
closed these grounds and will jealous
ly protect them until the oyster mature
in 1923. In the fall Of 1923 these beds
will be opened to the tongers and North
Carolinians will have more oysters in