

-*.• 















Seed oysters attached to pieces of shell are scattered on tidal flats. 



CFish and Game Photo by H. G. Orcutt) 



Reason for Imports 



Temperature and salinity conditions do not reach 

 the proper level for a long enough time ordinarilv to 

 permit spawning of imported oysters in the water of 

 our bays. How ever, this seeming shortcoming is more 

 than overcome by the abundance of food organisms 

 in these bays and the very favorable environment for 

 adults. 



This results in a very fast growing, meaty ONSter, 

 with prime quality and flavor much in demand by 

 the oyster-consuming public. 



The Pacific giant oyster is the principal product of 

 the California industry. The young seed oysters are 

 imported from Japan and grown in our bays to meet 

 the great consumer demand in San Francisco and Los 

 Angeles. This market is large and is expanding to 

 include special canned and frozen products. 



California oystermen enjoy remarkable production 

 from their plantings. They have a crop ready for 

 market in 14 to 20 months from time of planting seed. 

 This is a year shorter than the time required in 

 Washington state and two years shorter than that 

 required in Japan. The shipments of seed oysters 

 from Japan have increased tremendously during 

 recent >ears. 



With such phenomenal increases in seed plantings, 

 a corresponding increase in landings can be expected. 

 The accumulating effect on landings can be seen in 

 the "Oyster Imports and Landings" table in this 

 section. 



New Methods 



With the re-establishment of the industry in 1952, 

 Morro Bay culturists took the lead in oystering by 

 introducing methods in California to \-ield greater 

 landings per unit of area farmed. During the 1954-56 

 biennium, Humboldt Bay operations have proceeded 

 from test plantings to large scale oystering w ith highly 

 specialized equipment. A modern hydraulic harvesting 

 dredge, a large shucking plant and a new cannery are 

 now in operation where in 1954 there was only the 

 encouragement from results of test plantings. 



.Many thousands of acres of the largest ba\s— San 

 Diego, San Francisco, San Pablo and large portions of 

 Humboldt Bay— cannot be certified b\' the Department 

 of Public Health for oyster production because of the 

 possibility of contamination by sewage discharges. 



This boom in shellfish production is now limited to 

 areas presently in production and no further expansion 

 is possible under present physical conditions. 



Just Like Farming 



0>ster culture is much like farming. The seed oys- 

 ters attached to pieces of empty shells are planted on 

 the tidal flats. Then the growing oyster is cultivated 

 and fattened for harvest. 



The valuable seed, most of which is shipped here 

 from Japan, is inspected for pests before planting. 

 Certain t\pes of marine snails are the oyster's worst 

 enemies. They drill holes in the shell, killing the oyster 

 and feeding upon the delicate meat inside. Department 

 inspections provide a protection against contamination 

 of our California bays with pests from incoming ship- 

 ments. 



Native oysters, while they provide a particularly 

 tasty meat, are not harvested commercially principally 

 because labor involved in removing shells from meat 

 is too costly. 



Pollution Hurt Industry 



The oyster industry in San Francisco Bay was at 

 its height around the turn of the century. Even then, 

 the oysters described by author Jack London in his 

 story on raids on the oyster beds were not the native va- 

 riety. They were imported here from the East. The in- 

 dustry reached a peak of over 1.5 million pounds har- 

 vested annually by 1911, then faded awav because of 



Otf^ten, ^tufroftU' 



Season 



November, 1961-ApriI, 19B2. 

 November, 19S2-AprU, 1953. 

 November, 1953-April, 1954. 

 November, igSl-April, 19BS. 

 November, 19S5-April, 19B6. 



Cases* 



1,530 



3,530 



a,234 



10,800 



26,681 



* Cases of seed oysters imported from Japan weigh approximately 200 pounds 

 apiece. 



, , . cuid ^OHcUtt^ 



Year 



1951 

 1952 

 1963 

 1964 

 1956 



Pounds 



133,700 

 188,666 

 161,620 

 468,493 

 1,636,067 



