The Rise And Decline Of The Olympic Oyster 



Olympia Oyster dikes tc a depth of 6 inches. Entire beds 

 of Oysters have been smothered by a heavy, brown 

 blanket of Melosira, which dense growth Biologist Har- 

 vey C. McMillin describes as indicating a disturbed con- 

 dition of the water in which it normally grows in small 

 amounts. (1) 



In view of the terrible losses of Olympia Oysters, 

 many Olympia growers sued Rayonier for crop and tide- 

 land damage caused by waste sulphite liquor. Out-of- 

 court settlements were made amounting to thousands of 

 dollars, most of which the oystermen re-invested in im- 

 proving their oyster ground in the mistaken belief that 

 pollution would be abated. The citizens of Shelton con- 

 tributed at least $150,000 dollars to pay damage settle- 

 ments for the pulp mill when the mill threatened to close 

 its doors. These citizens have never been reimbursed for 

 their contributions to the pulp mill cause. 



Wartime conditions resulted in temporary closure 

 of the mill in August 1943. It remained closed until Octo- 

 ber 1945, when it re-opened and ran at a reduced scale, 

 burning the great bulk of its liquor in a newly construct- 

 ed evaporator disposal unit. (2) By fall of 1945 the Olym- 

 pia Oyster beds were beginning to look more productive, 

 the seed catch each year was looking better and the 

 oystermen at last looked forward to an oyster production 

 sufficient to fill their many orders. Pulp production at 

 the mill began once more to climb and with the increased 

 production came an increase in the pollutional load dis- 

 charged to Oakland Bay. In 1948, production at the mill 



(1) U. S. Fisheries Bulletin No. 6 — 1931 



(2) Washington Fisheries Bulletin 49-A 



(123) 



