2015-11-10 - P&O Agenda - Item 7, Attach 1 - Historical Ecology of the Noosa Estuary Fisheries

township was held the annual corroboree of the oysters, when, from as far north as
Maryborough and southward to Caloundra, the tribes foregathered to the feast.”
Sunday Mail, 30 Jan 1927.


The first recorded purchase of an oyster section within the Noosa River occurred
in 1881 (The Queenslander, 17 Sept 1881). Oysters (in common with oyster
fisheries throughout Queensland) were worked by the use of a heavy dredge that
was hauled along the bottom of the river via a small boat, or along the bank if
within wading depth. By the 1880s Noosa oysters were being transported to
Brisbane:


“A small cutter that brings oysters to the Brisbane market was anchored on the
bank, where a tent was pitched for the accommodation of the oyster-getters. The
oysters are collected by means of a dredge, which brings up a hundredweight or
two at a time, which must "pan out" pretty well at 1s. a plate. I was informed that a
large quantity of the oysters are shipped to Brisbane every week, en route for
Melbourne; and, speaking from personal experience, I can state that Noosa oysters
are not to be despised, especially when you get them on "their native bank," and not
after a two or three days' "preserving" in sultry Brisbane.” The Queenslander, 17
Apr 1886.


Throughout the recorded history of the Noosa oyster fishery, flooding has
resulted in the loss of oysters, although this loss was sometimes succeeded by
large falls of spat (young oyster) if conditions were right. Even in its early years
the industry was vulnerable to the sudden loss of oysters from disease or
flooding, or slumps in the wider market (The Brisbane Courier, 25 Feb 1896; The
Queenslander, 29 May 1897). Concern was also expressed about oyster declines:


“Not very long ago fat and luscious bivalves were to be found in plenty; now oysters
are only to be obtained by laborious dredging or diving, and then they are of such
insignificant size as to be scarcely worth opening.” The Queenslander, 29 May
1897.




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