560 BEPOET— 1891. 



Insatiable greed and overdredging, however, reduced these 

 prohfic natural beds to the very verge of extinction, and thus it 

 happens that Victoria for many years past has been, and still 

 is, dependent upon New South Wales, Queensland, South 

 Australia, and New Zealand for her 05'ster-supplies. Some 

 two years since I was invited by the Government of Victoria 

 to make a tour of and report upon the fisheries of that colony, 

 giving special attention to the practicability of reviving the 

 oyster-fisheries. As a result of that tour of inspection, I 

 strongly recommended that Government oyster reserves should 

 be established, and stocked with oysters, at Western Port and 

 Port Albert more particularly, on the same basis as those 

 w^hich have proved so effective in Tasmania. One such 

 reserve, with a very small stock of oysters, was formed at Port 

 Albert. As, however, contrary to my anticipations, no provi- 

 sion was made for its periodical skilled supervision, it has 

 not surprised me to hear that this reserve has failed in its 

 mission, and has dwindled to decay. Unless such reserves can 

 be maintained in efficient working-order, and the operations 

 periodically required thereon be supervised by a practical 

 ostreiculturist, the money expended on their establishment is 

 simply wasted. 



Victoria will not, however, I hope, abandon the latent 

 potentialities she possesses of again becoming a prolific oyster- 

 producing colony, in consequence of the check experienced in 

 association with this first insufficiently-supported elifort. One 

 formidable obstacle that has hitherto stood in the way of 

 resuscitating the inshore oyster-fisheries has been the diffi- 

 culty of obtaining sufficient quantities of the species indigenous 

 to the colony for the establishment of sufficient reserves. This 

 difficulty has apparently now found its solution. In my 

 reports to the Victorian Government I drew attention to the 

 fact that along the Ninety-mile Beach and other portions of 

 the coast-line visited by me I had observed considerable num- 

 bers of oyster-shells, evidently derived from deep water, that 

 had been recently cast upon the shore by storms. In conse- 

 quence of these observations I predicted the existence of more 

 or less extensive beds off the coast, and recommended the 

 Government to undertake experimental operations with the 

 dredge in order to ascertain the whereabouts of these beds. 

 This recommendation has, I am informed by the newspapers, 

 been recently acted upon with success, the Inspector of Fisheries, 

 in association with the steamer " Lady Loch," being therein 

 reported to have discovered some offshore beds. The extent 

 of these beds, and whether it is intended to throw them 

 open to indiscriminate dredging until they are commercially 

 exhausted, is not recorded. It may be pointed out, however, 

 that a most favourable opportunity is afforded by their dis- 



