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

Moreton Bay Oyster Company every winter, presumably for relaying, and that
the main Noosa lease was, “where the barge goes over the river to the upper end of
Wood’s Reach going towards the lakes” (Tewantin State School project 1957).


In 1920 the majority of the Noosa River sections were leased once again by the
Moreton Bay Oyster Company (Fig. 2), who likely undertook a similar process of
removing the Noosa River oysters for fattening in Moreton Bay. While this
procedure benefited the industry in the short term by producing marketable
oysters in large quantities over a short period of time, it is not reported how this
removal affected the substrate and the remaining oyster populations of the
Noosa River. Smith (1981) states that the big companies would acquire large
numbers of banks or oyster sections, quickly strip these areas of their oysters to
deposit upon their prime laying beds, and then forfeit the stripped beds, which
would subsequently lose their value. It is highly likely that this occurred in the
Noosa River.




Figure 2. A hand-drawn sketch from 1934, drawn by the Fisheries Inspector to
highlight the areas in the Noosa River closed to net fishing. The red numbers
indicate the Noosa oyster sections. Source: Queensland State Archives.


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