I. THE OYSTER-INDUSTRY-DESCmPTIVE AND 

 STATISTICAL REPORTS. 



A. THE MARITIME PEOYINCES OF CANADA. 



1. GEOGEAPHICAL POSITION AISTD CHAEACTEE OF THE OYSTEE BEDS. 



Description of the eastern coast of New Brunswick. — It is well known that eastern New Brunswick 

 and the adjoining islands are the home of a breed of oysters, separated from those of the New England coast by 

 more than a thousand miles of shore line. 



In a study of the oysters of the United States, it is important to glance at this distant scene of their growth and 

 industry, but more than a general view of the subject is not compatible with the jiurposes of the present report. 



The eastern coast of the province of New Brunswick is washed by the waters of the gulf of St. Lawrence. At 

 cape Tormentine the coast trends eastward, along Nova Scotia, to the Gut of Canso, and then turns sharjily north- 

 ward, on the western side of Cape Breton island, which bars out the Atlantic. This part of the gidf is a great 

 bight, with Anticosti island on the north, and Cape Breton on the east. Down in the bottom of the bight, so to 

 speak, lies the long irregular shape of Prince Edward island, between which and the mainland flow the shallow but 

 troublesome currents of Northumberland strait. 



The shores of New Brunswick and Prince Edward are, for the most part, low bluffs of reddish soil, and sloping 

 meadows. There is little solid rock, few prominent headlands, but a generally continuous line of shore, shelving 

 very gradually into water nowhere deep. Many rivers come down along the coast of the gulf, and at the mouth of 

 each there is an estuary or inlet, proportionate to the size of the stream, from the mighty channel of the St. Lawrence 

 to the miniature bay of Bedeque. With the exception of two or three of the greater ones, all these inlets are so 

 shallow that it is easy to pole a raft anywhere, and they are usually protected from the swell of the outer sea and 

 the fury of the gales by a barrier of islands, or by projecting headlands and bars. This condition of things seems 

 highly favorable for oyster-growth, since nearly all of these inlets contain colonies of these mollusks. 



Shippegan and Caraquette to Pictou. — Beginning at the north, on the coast of New Brunswick, the most 

 distant point at which 1 could ascertain that oysters had ever been discovered, was in the rear of Miscou island, at 

 Shippegau, and in Caraquette bay, a harbor on the southern shore of the bay of Chaleurs. 



In 18-i9, Mr. Perley, the queen's commissioner, reported to the government: 



Some oysters of very large size and good quality are found al Tabusiutac ; but those of the finest description arc found on extensive 

 hcds in Shippegan harbor, .St. Simon's inlet, and Caraquette bay, from which localities they are exported every season to Quebec. The 

 number of bushels exported from the port of Cara<iuette during the last eight years, is as follows : 



1S41 5,000 



lfc42 7,000 



18-13 5, '290 



1844 6,000 



1845 2,010 



1846 1,915 



1847 4-.'5 



1848 5,432 



Twenty years later, ]\Ir. Venning, inspector of fisheries, wrote: "In Shippegan and Caraquette, close time for 

 the protection of the oyster-beds has, for the fir.st time (18G9), been iiartially enforced. These beds are extensive 

 and widely separated, and it is a matter of much difBculty to prevent occasional violations of the law." Again, 

 Professor "Whiteaves* was informed that oysters had been taken upon the flukes of anchors, in seven fathoms of 

 water, "between Little and Big Caraquette banks, in the bay of Chaleurs." I see no reason why they should not 

 also be found at the mouth of the Nipisiguit river, farther up the bay, on the same shore. South of Miscou and 

 Shippegan "gullies" the coast seems too bold a one for oysters in great plenty, until Miramichi bay is reached, the 

 whole interior of which is fall of these mollusks. This is especially true along the south sliore, where there are 

 many islands, and at the innermost shallow extremity of the bay, where the Miramichi river comes in. Bettaouiu 

 is a particularly rich locality. Having rounded Escumiuac cape, the headland .south of Miramichi bay, a grou]) 



"Canadian XatiiraliBt, vii, 344. 



