OYSTEK-CULTUEE IN AUSTRALASIA. 559 



that frequent the port.' The most practical testimony to the 

 substantial progress that is being made towards the revival 

 of the oyster-fisheries in this district, as vv^ell as to the confi- 

 dence established by the operations initiated, is perhaps 

 adduced by the fact that as many as fifteen areas, varying in 

 size from one to sixteen acres, are already occupied or have 

 been bespoken by individuals or associated companies for the 

 purpose of forming private oyster-fisheries." 



Since the compilation of the report just quoted, and, indeed, 

 within the past few weeks, intelligence of a still more gratifying 

 nature has reached me concerning the newly-resuscitated 

 oyster-fisheries of Tasmania. By a resident at Spring Bay I 

 am informed that oysters have now become so plentiful there 

 that the Hobart market is glutted, and that the dealers have 

 been obliged to reduce their sale-price 50 per cent. From 

 another source, the daily j)ress, I have learnt that at a recent 

 meeting of the Tasmanian Fisheries Board attention was 

 drawn to the necessity that had arisen for amending the exist- 

 ing regulation concerning the sale of oysters during the close 

 months. As originally framed, the regulation applied only to 

 oysters dredged or taken from the natural oyster-grounds, and 

 did not anticipate or make provision for the holding of beds by 

 private lessees, by whom supplies of oysters can be consequently 

 without legal interference, and, as a matter of fact, are now 

 being, placed upon the market at all times and seasons. No 

 further evidence is, I think, required to accentuate the fact 

 that the erstwhile exhausted oyster-fisheries of Tasmania have 

 been re-established upon a solid basis, and that by perseverance 

 in the maintenance of the breeding reserves it is only a ques- 

 tion of time to restore them to their original remarkable fecun- 

 dity. One point in this connection demands brief notice. In 

 accordance with my recommendations all holders of private 

 oyster-beds in Tasmania are bound by the terms of their leases 

 to retain a certain amount of breeding-stock— namely, not less 

 than ten thousand mature oysters to the acre — permanently 

 on their oyster-beds. This regulation contributes materially 

 towards the distribution of spat throughout the surrounding 

 water, and to the re-establishment of the oyster-fisheries upon 

 a durable basis. 



Victoria. 



The oyster-fisheries of Victoria next invite attention. The 

 specific form of oyster indigenous to the Victorian coast-line is, 

 as previously mentioned, the miscalled mud-oyster, identical 

 with that produced in Tasmanian w^aters, and to all outward 

 appearance indistinguishable from the British native, Ostrea 

 edulis. In former years vast quantities of this oyster were 

 obtained from Western Port Bay, Port Albert, and Corner Inlet. 



