page_title: Yerseke
section_title: Aquaculture
hierarchical_section_title: Yerseke / Aquaculture
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Zicht op de Westerschelde en het strand van Yerseke vanaf de dijk.
context_page_description: Yerseke is a village situated on the southern shore of the Oosterschelde estuary in the Dutch province of Zeeland. A separate municipality until 1970, it today forms part of the municipality of Reimerswaal. As of 2010 Yerseke had a recorded population of 6,695 inhabitants, living in 2,680 households.
  The fishing village is well known for its aquaculture. Tourists visit the oyster pits, harbors and museum of the town and fishing industry, as well as the annual celebration of the mussel harvest in August. The village furthermore plays host to the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research.
context_section_description: The locality is well known in the region and farther afield, especially in Belgium, for its aquaculture and fishing industry: particularly for the cultivation from the Eastern Scheldt of mussels, oysters, periwinkles, and lobster. Due to the economic success and wealth created by the oyster and mussel industries, Yerseke has received the nickname “Klondike of Zeeland”, while mussels are sometimes referred to as “black gold” (‘’Zwart Goud’’).
  Starting approximately in 1870, the village began large-scale cultivation of oysters, partly in response to high French demand. For this purpose, parcels within the Eastern Scheldt were leased out by the government for farming, while pits outside the dikes employing roof tiles were constructed for cultivation of oyster larvae. These pits were eventually abandoned in the 20th century, replaced by pits built within the dikes close to the harbour, where roof tiles have given way to modern racks. The pits also serve to flush oysters harvested from the estuaries, and are surrounded by old, characteristic warehouses.
  While the oyster industry created wealth, it also suffered many setbacks and upheavals, as well as creating social inequalities. In 1885, some oyster farmers sought greater opportunities by immigrating to West Sayville, New York on Long Island, where wild oysters were once abundant. During the 20th century, further setbacks in the form of harsh winters, especially in 1963, and the threatened closing of the Eastern Scheldt by a dam almost led to the collapse of the oyster industry. After moderate recovery, the bacterium Bonamia ostreae infected the prevalent flat oysters, again decimating the industry in 1980. This led to the introduction of the Pacific Oyster, now the most cultivated oyster species, which some consider an invasive species.
  Mussels have always been a staple along the coast, but only at the end of the 19th century were there concerted efforts at standardising production. Beginning approximately after the war, mussels have slowly gained ever greater economic significance and eclipsed the oyster in importance. This is manifest by the village hosting the only mussel auction in the world. In the past, mussels were caught and harvested with small sailing sloops, the so-called hoogaars and hengst. Today, highly advanced and much larger ships are employed, able to not only manage the harvest on the Eastern Scheldt but sail longer distances, including to the Wadden Sea where mussels have been seeded and harvested since about 1950 when a parasite threatened the harvest in the Eastern Scheldt. The mussels are grown and harvested entirely at sea in a mostly natural process.
  The harbor of Yerseke has expanded continuously since the 19th century along with the fishing industry. The original harbor of Yersekendam, initially a loading dock for agricultural products bound for the island of Tholen, was expanded to accommodate fishing boats. This was supplemented with a larger harbour in 1965, named after then Crown Princess Beatrix. A much larger harbour, named after then Queen Juliana and opened in 1981, is deep enough to accommodate the largest and most modern vessels, and also boasts a dry dock for maintenance. A statue of an old “mussel man” commemorates the opening by Princess Juliana on 18 June 1981.
  As part of the Delta Works to prevent future flooding after the 1953 flooding, the originally proposed closed earthen dam of the Eastern Scheldt was altered into an open storm surge barrier. This engineering work served to (partially) protect the ecology of the estuary and with it the vital fishing industry of the town that depends on regular tidal movements. Resistance from Yerseke and her fisherman, as well as environmentalists, prevented the complete closure of the Eastern Scheldt.
  During the third Saturday of August every year, the village celebrates the official start of the mussel harvest with the annual Mosseldag, although these days the season tends to begin earlier. The event attracts approximately 50,000 visitors who come to eat mussels, take free cruises on mussel s
caption: Beach of Yerseke
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "COOLPIX AW100", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "COOLPIX AW100V1.0", "Image DateTime": "2015:03:22 14:09:42", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "280", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 3, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[0/0, 0/0, 0/0]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[0/0, 0/0, 0/0]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "0", "GPS GPSAltitude": "0/0", "GPS GPSTimeStamp": "[0/0, 0/0, 0/0]", "GPS GPSSatellites": "", "GPS GPSImgDirectionRef": "M", "GPS GPSImgDirection": "10609/100", "GPS GPSMapDatum": "", "GPS GPSDate": "", "Image GPSInfo": "942", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "300", "Thumbnail YResolution": "300", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "12788", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3870", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1000", "EXIF FNumber": "39/10", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "125", "EXIF SensitivityType": "Standard Output Sensitivity", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2015:03:22 14:09:42", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2015:03:22 14:09:42", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "4", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "39/10", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "5", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4608", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3456", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "1308", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "28", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "High gain down", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "2"}