386 KEI'OKT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 

 THE OYSTER INDUSTRY. 

 EXTENT AND IMPORTANCE. 



For many years oysters have been taken in nearly all the estuaries 



aloiii;' the Texas coast. At low tide tlie Avharf posts and i)ilings, the 

 buoy stakes, and tlie reefs left bare l)y the receding' Avater, are seen to 

 be covered with small oysters. At times, particjnlarly in the spring, 

 when heavy freshets occur and fill the bays with fresh water, many of 

 the oysters are destroyed; but this rarely happens to all the reefs in 

 any one bay during the same year, and within two or three years they 

 are usually as plentiful as before the occasion of such a disastei'. 



Until quite recently the taking of oysters wjis carried on in a very 

 irreguhir manner, but with the increase in transportation facilities and 

 the influx of capital along the coast the industry is rapidly developing 

 into respectable proportions. 



In 1880 only 95,025 bushels of oysters Avere taken from all the bays 

 iu the State. In 1890 the catch amounted to 140,800 bushels, Avhich 

 were sold by the fishermen for $127,990; 3G9 men w^ere steadily engaged 

 in longing, and OA^er 100 more iu transporting and marketing the catch ; 

 189 sailboats valued at .$GG,250, 1 steamer valued at $15,000; and other 

 apparatus to the value of $5,451, were constantly used in this industry. 

 A nunil)er of general freighting boats Avere also employed in transport- 

 ing the catch for a short while during the busy season. The number 

 of oystermen reported in 1880 was 200, and the value of all sailboats, 

 skiffs, tongs, etc., Avas $17,750. 



The oysters found on the Texas coast are the same species as those 

 occurring along the shores of the Middle States, differing only as the 

 oysters of one bay may from those of another in the immediate locality. 

 The oysters of the several bays of Texas differ as much from each- other 

 as from those on the Atlantic coast. In general the shells, Avhile not 

 like those of the "coon ^)ysters" of some of the Southern States, are 

 rather long and of very irregular formation. In many places the groAAth 

 of oysters on a bed is scA'eral feet deep, forming ridges rising above the 

 surrounding grounds. In such places, as Avell as on the muddy bottoms, 

 they have a tendency to groA\' in clusters, often large enough to fill a 

 bushe! basket; this results in great irregularity in the contour of the 

 shell. On account of this and the rank groAvth of the shell, caused by 

 the abundance of lime brought down by the rivers, the yield of "solid 

 meats" to the l)nshel is not as great as the aA'erage yield of the same 

 grade of oysters on the Atlantic coast. A " barrel" of Texas oysters 

 '< opens out" on an average not over 6 quarts, Avhilein the Middle States 

 the same (|Mantity Avould contain from 8 to 10 ipiarts of meats. The 

 groAvth of the oysters is (jnite rapid, it recjuiring only about 550 "2i- 

 year olds " to till a 3-bushel barrel. In the Chesapeake region it requires 

 fully 750 oysters of that age to e(iual this measurement. Some <)f the 

 Texas oysters are so large that less than 100 fill a.'j-bushel bairel; these 

 are found chiefly in the muddy sections of Matagorda and Mesquit bays^ 



