..
[-I
PRELTIclIN.A..RY
PBELThaNARY REPORT OF
OYS'rER
OYSTER IlnTESTIGATIONS
INVESTIGATIONS
by
.icNfllafl
J1.
li. C.
C. McMillan
1931
Introduction
The
inland waters
The area
area of inland
waters suitable
suitable for
for oyster
oyster culture
culture on
on
the
coast of oregon
in extent,
extent.
the coast
Oregon is limited in
There are barren
tide flats amounting to
to a few thousand
thousand acres
acres which
which may
may be
be ututilized either for oyster or clam
clam production; and
and there
there are
are more
more
shallow water
water where
where oysters
oysters may
may be
be cultivated.
cultivated.
limited areas of shallow
At the
the present time
time the only natural
natural beds
beds of commercial
commercial value
value for
for
oysters are
are in
in the
the estuary
estuary of
of the
the Yaquina
Yaquina River.
River.
oysters
the sthnmer
summer of
During the
of 1931
1931 aa preliminary
preliminary examination
examination of
other bays has been made,
made, and aa more
more extensive
extensive investigation
has been
been started
started on
on Yaquina
Yauina Bay.
has
Bay.
'I'ide
of Tillamook,
l'illamook,
Tide lands of
Netarts, and Aloon Bays,
Bays, have been planted
to seed Oyster
oyster imimNetarts,
lanted to
ported from
from Japan.
'1'he
during the
the
The growth of these oysters during
sunimer has
cases.
siiiimer
hasbeen
beensatisfactory
satisfactory in
in all
all cases.
Further develop-
the oyster
oyster to
to survive
survive the
the
ment will depend upon
upon the
the ability
ability of
ofthe
winter conditions in each of these
these hays.
bays.
Netarte Bay receives
drainage from the
the surrounding upland,
very little drainage
utland, and
and the
the salinity during the rainy seasons probably will not
not adversely
adversely afaf-
fect the
the oysters.
Tillroaook Bay
Bay forms
forms the
the outlat
outlat for
for several
several
Tillamook
bay is probably large enough
enough to
to maintain
maintain
small rivers,
rivers, but the bay
aa sufficiently
SUfficiently high
high salinity.
salinity.
Alsea Bay is small in area and
-2-
receives
amoun"G of fresh water
water from the
the surrounding
surroli.11ding
receives aa large amount
territory; therefore,
therefore, its
its value
value for
for oyster
oyster culture
culture is
is yet
yet to
to be
be
determined.
Taquina !:lay
Yaquina
Bay
A
the oyster bearing bottoms in Yaquina Bay
A survey of the
was made in
in 1908
1908 by
by ri.
Iii. Wygant,
Wygant, U.
U. S.
S. Deputy Surveyor.
He
lie
found
found 101.95
101,95 acres
acres of "natural"
"natural" oyster beds,
beds, and
and 57.80
57.80 acres
acres
beds.
of "private" beds,
I'he
The former
foiner represented only those areas
which were tonged by
by the
the public,
pUblic.
The latter were
were portions
bottom upon
upon which
which the
the local
local operators
operators
of nsturally
naturally barren bottom
the seed
seed which they
they took
took up
up from
from the
the natural
natural
planted half of the
oystering.
beds when oystering,
Of the
the legislature
legislature the
the natural
natural
By act or
beds were
were set
set aside as a state
state reserve,
reserve, and
and the
the private areas
the hands of
of the
the individual
individual tongers.
tongers.
continued in the
years after the passage of the
the reverse
reverse act
act ((
:Wor
some
For some
)
the beds
beds
the
were administered
administered loosely
loosely by
by the
the State
state Fish
Fish Coimnission
Gonrrnission through
the local
lccal oyster
oyster growert
grower'ss association.
association.
'there
There were few legal
restrictions upon those
those who worked the
the public beds,
beds, and
and controcontroversies developed among
muong the
the oystenaen.
oystenaen.
A
A few
few tongers
tongers failed to
to
eserve, and others
of the
the seed
seed to
to the
the State
state Reserve,
return half of
showed
ways.
showed their privileges in various ways,
A
A definite
definite oyster
oyster
policy for the
the afuuinistration
the Yaquina
Yaquina !:lay
administration the
the the
Bay beds is now in
in
the making.
making.
the
The State
state has closed
closed the
the beds
beds to
to general
general exploitaexploita-
tion,
grounds to
to the
the Oregon
Oregon Oyster
Oyster Co.,
Co., which has
tion, and leased the grounds
-3-
obtained the
the rights
rights on
on the
the private
private beds,
beds.
also obtained
In the evolution
policy of administration a conflict
conflict of
of opinion
opinion has
has arise.
arise.
of a policy
fWO principal points of contention are;
are; one,
one, the
the right of tongers
tongers
Two
to work the public beds, and two,
two, the
the title
title to
to private
private areas.
areas.
to
'.['he
residents of the
the vicinity maintain
The residents
maintain that
that they
they should
should be
be entitled
entitled
to employment
by the
the industry,
industry.
to
emplocnent by
'fhe private
th the exception
exception of
of
The
private bads
bads wi
withthe
nine acres
acres held
heldbybyDr.
Dr.101.
M. Id.
M. Davills
Dafls under
under aa fee
fee simple title are
unpatentable lands,
lands, which
which were
were granted
granted by
by the
the oyster
oyster grower's
grower's
to its members upon certain conditions
conditions involving constant
association to
constant
cultivation.
This controversey is outside the sdope
scope of
of a biological
survey, therefore,
therefore, the
survey,
the present report
report will deal
deal only
only with
with aa suggested
suggested
method of
of oyster
oyster culture
culture on
on the
the Reserve.
Reserve.
'there are
the
'there
are no
no figures
figures to
to show
show the
the normal
normal production
production of
of the
Yaquina Bay
Bay beds
beds prior
prior to
to the
the year
year 1923.
1923.
Yaquina
The tongers
tongers paid neither aa
license fee nOr
their catch,
nor a tax on their
catch, so the
the ~tate
State neither
neither derived
income from the beds nor kept records
records of
of production.
production.
Since 1923
1923 the
the
Oregon Oyster Company has oystered
oystered the
the beds,
beds, and
and their
their figures
figures do
do not
not
indicate a high
high yield.
yield.
the present time
time the
the beds
beds are heavily
At the
stocked with
the production for the
the coming
coming
with marketable
marketable oysters,
oysters, and the
year may
than can
can be
be maintained
maintained on
on aa constant
constant basis.
basis.
nay be greater than
area included,
included in
Reserve as.
as shown
1,
The area
in the State Reserve
shown in Figure 1,
constitutes about 400
400 acres.
acres.
four divisions,
divisions.
naturally into
into
The producing beds fall naturally
The area between
between the
the Western
western boundary
boundary of
of the
the Reserve
Reserve
The
and Boone Island is
is locally called
called the
the Big
Big Bend
Bend beds.
beds.
Between
Boone
Between Boone
Island and Oysterville
Oysterville the
the beds
beds are
are called
called the
the Oysterville
Oysterville flats.
flats.
-4-.4-..
The Middle
Grounds extend from
from Oysterville
Oysterville to
to Rocky Point, and
and the
the
Middle Grouhds
remaining bottom
to the
bottom eastward to
the boundary
boundary of
of the
the Reserve
Reserve is
is 10l0wn
imown
as the
the Shipyard Channel
Channel beds.
beds.
The
The Big Bend
Bend beds
beds are
are washed
washed by
by aa good
good current
current on
on both
both the
the
flood and ebb tides,
tides.
set is
is general,
general, but
but light.
light.
The set
At the
the present
present
At
time
the bottom
time this
this area
area carries
carries aalarge
largenumber
numberofofadult
adultoyster~,
oyste, and the
bottom
is
clam shells.
shells.
is covered with a heavy layer of clam
It
It was
was consistently
worked for
for many years by the
the tongers,
tongers, and produced a large proportion
of the
the output
output of
of the
the bay,
bay.
should be oystered
oystered irnediately.
immediately.
This bed should
The seed oysters should be
to the
be returned to
the beds,
beds, but
but aa portion
portion of
of the
the
cl81!l
clam shells that would necessarily he taken
taken up
up with
with the
the oysters,
oysters, and
and not
not
needed as cultch,
cultch, should be
be separated and reserved for
for planting other
grounds next
next summer.
summer.
one time
time included
included some
the best
The Oysterville flats at one
some of the
best seed
seed
catching ground in the
the bay.
bay.
Ten~orary docks were
were built
built along
along the
the north
north
Temporarydocks
shore, extending from the
the Southern Pacific Railroad tracks
tracks to
to deep
deep water,
vreter.
shore,
A log
log dump
dump and booming goound
was also
also maint-ined
maint;ined few
fo~ aa long
long time
time at
at
A
yound was
the same place,
place.
the
A
dmnped around these structures
A large amount of rocks was dumped
and upon the oysters.
The
The currents were obstructed,
obstructed, and nearby
nearfuy ground,
ground,
affected by
and the
the oysters
oysters
not affected,
by construction,
construction, was
was covered with sediment and
destroyed.
~~though
Although
the docks have been abandoned for
for many years a few
the
and the
the rocks
rocks remain.
remain.
piling and
Sfuat
'ihatmight
might ba
ba aa productive
productive oyster
oyster bed
continues as
as aa useless
useless area.
area.
dontinues
portions of the
the Oysterville
On the free portions
Flats are
are many
many large
large oysters.
oysters.
This division should be oystered during
during the
the
coming season
season and the oysters
oysters removed,
removed.
-5-5..
The Middle gound
gound is
is aa large
large bed,
bed, but
but has
has comparatively few
oysters.
The set is generally light,
light, but due
due to
to the
the fact
fact that
that the
the
ground has not been worked, there
there are
are scattered
scattered beds
beds of
of old
old oysters
oysters
that have reached their maximum age and
and should
should be
be marketed.
Seed
from other parts of the
the bay could well be
be planted
planted here.
here.
The Shipyard Channel is
is the
the best
belet oyster
oyster producing
producing area
area in
in the
'Ghe
bay,
bay.
A
A set of seed is obtained each year, end
and there
there is
is said
said to
to be
be
occasionally a remarkable catch.
catch.
oysters of
of all
all sizes,
sizes.
stocked with
with
The bed is now well stocked
A
oysters could
A large nuraber
number of marketable
marketable oysters
be sold and the
the seed
seed removed to
to some
some of
of the
the other
other areas.
areas.
In all of
the
and especially
the divisions,
divisions, and.
especially in
in the
the Shipyard
Shipyard Channel
Channel there
there are
are
rock reefs,
reefs, sunken logs,
logs, large
large loose
loose boulders,
boulders, and
and other
other obstructions
obstructions
which make
make oystering difficult, but also prevent
prevent the
the depletion
depletion of
of the
the
beds, unless they
they are
are worked
worked too
too heavily
heavily for
for aa period
period of
of years.
years.
The
The
producti vi ty of this area can be increased by the
the planting of clean
productivity
shells before the
the spawning
spawning season.
season.
Recommendations
A general
general policy
policy of
of oystering
oystering the
the entire
entire Reserve
Reserve isisreconnuended
recommended
A
for
coming season.
for the coming
There are
are at least 2,000
oysters
There
2,000 sacks of oysters
wijich
wbich have
have reached
reached their
their maximum
maximum size,
size, aa large
large percentage of which
which
probably will die
die before
before another
another spawning
spawning season.
season.
It is
is suggested
It
that the
the Big Rena
Bend be
be worked immediately,
immediately, and
and all
all of
of the
the seed
seed be
be
that
returned.
returned.
The excess
excess of
of shell
shell not
not needed
needed here
here should
should be
be held
held for
for
'['he
planting on
on other
other beds,
beds.
planting
Due to
to the
the large
large amount
amount of
of clsxn
clam shells on this
culling necessarily will be slow;
slow; therefore,
therefore, it is sugpested
suggested that
bed, culling
during the
season atmight be
be
the busy season
at 'l'hanksgiving
Thanksgiving and
and Christmas
Christmas oysters
oysters might
-6-
taken from the Middle ground and Shipyard
Shipyard Channel
Channel beds.
beds.
summary
Summary
1.
The Yaquina Bay contains the only connercially
comrnercially valuable
valuable oyster
oyster
in the
the State
state of
of Oregon.
Oregon.
beds in
2.
2,
'l'here
are no
no adequate statistics
statistics to
to show
show the
the proftuctivity
productivity of
There are
years.
the beds in past years.
3.
The beds
bads are
are now heavily
heavily stocked
stocked with
with full
full grown
grovm oysters.
oysters.
4.
4,
At least 2,000 sacks
sacks of oysters should be removed
removed during the
the
coming season,
season, as
as aa large
large percentage
percentage have
have reached
reached their
their maximum
maximum
age
spawning season.
season.
age and
and may
may die before another spawning
5.
5,
Seed
·the Shipyard Channel to
to other
viSeed should be moved
moved from the
other di
divi-
sions
sions of
of' the
theReserve,
Reserve, and
and this
this area
area should
should he
be heavily
heavily shelled
he fore another spawning
spavming season.
season.
before
6.
5.
The excess of shells
shells not
not needed on
on the
the other beds
beds should be
be
separated
CUlling and used in
in cuitching
cul tehi.ng the
the Shipyard
Shipyarcl Channel.
Channel.
separated in culling