2015-11-10 Planning & Organisation Committee Agenda

PLANNING & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                               10 NOVEMBER 2015


   The large quantities of oyster shell remains existed at the location where the steamboat
     Culgoa berthed and formed a natural wharf of considerable extent. (The Culgo transported
     timber, passengers and goods between Noosa and Brisbane from the 1870s).
   The banks of the river at Tewantin, for a depth of 12 to 13 feet, are entirely composed of
     oyster shells. This observation is likely to relate to other visitors accounts of middens being
     along the banks of the river where the present day Council Chambers are located.
   Given that these oyster middens were being mined for road material by the 1970s, it is
     possible that they were once much larger.
   Further reports suggest that a navigable channel had been formed at Tewantin due to
     oysters being frequently thrown up from the riverbed.
   By 1891 the Noosa Estuary had dredge sections for lease which referred to oyster beds
     located in deep water (refer Figure 1).




       Figure 1. 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.


Interestingly, a more recent assessment of oyster recruitment in the Noosa Estuary conducted by
The Nature Conservancy in 2014-15, shows oyster species recruiting in moderate numbers
around Tewantin and Weyba Creek (refer Figure 2). This reveals a similar pattern to the historical
location of oyster beds in the estuary depicted by a fisheries Inspector in 1934 (refer Figure 1).




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