572 GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW OF THE FISHERIES. 



Oysters as taken from salt water are in very poor condition, but in an incredibly short time, 

 in fresh or brackish water, they become large and fat. Still there are times, when the bay is 

 almost purely fresh, that certain injurious qualities in it (perhaps from the extensive swamps) 

 either destroy oysters or turn them so red that they are unfit for market. Invertebrate animals 

 are probably the cause of many oysters being killed, though the oystermen seem to be ignorant of 

 it. Drum-fish are also very destructive. 



Besides the "reefers" and "plants," there is a kind of oyster called here "sharpers," from the 

 fact that the ends of their shells are unusually sharp. They are a natural-growth oyster of very 

 large size (shells averaging 8 or 10 inches long) and superior flavor, that are found growing sepa- 

 rately along the bay shores, not far from the place where "reefers" are gathered. " Sharpers" are 

 always in demand, though there is some objection to them on account of their being so hard 

 to open. 



"Reefers" and "sharpers" are caught by men who follow no other pursuit, and who are a quite 

 distinct class from the oyster-boatmen. They have small, flat-bottomed skiffs of the roughest 

 description, in which they go "a-tonging," two men occupying a boat and taking turns at tongiug 

 and culling. As fast as the stock is culled it is placed in shallow, oblong boxes holding one-fourth 

 of a barrel each, and in these measures is sold to the boatmen or carriers at the rate (during the 

 winter of 1880-'81) of 10 cents a "box," or 40 cents a barrel. The carriers having obtained a load 

 for their sail-boats, proceed at once to the city and deliver them to the dealer, by whom they are 

 employed to buy or with whom they have contracts. The measure, in this transaction, is the 

 same box as before, but the price has nearly doubled, holding all last season at 75 cents a barrel. 

 While the gatherers are paid per measure for what they catch, the profits of the boatmen are 

 divided among the crew by a "lay" arrangement of sharing, by which the crew pay provision 

 bills and receive 60 per cent, of the proceeds. Of the owner's 40 per cent, remaining, the captain 

 gets 10 or 15 per cent, additional. In a few cases the captains own their vessels, and prefer to hire 

 their crew at $20 or $25 a month. There are only two or three men in the whole crew of an 

 oyster-boat. 



The oysters, having been deposited in a pile in the dealer's warehouse, are next taken in hand 

 by the " openers," who are placed in a circle around the pile, each with his stool, bucket, and oyster- 

 knife. These men are principally negroes and Creoles of the worst character, who find it hard to 

 obtain other employment. Still they are very expert at opening oysters, and often make fair wages. 

 The knives used by them are all of steel, about 6 inches long, with heavy, flat handles, and wide, 

 thick blades, rounded at the end. To open an oyster it is held in the. left hand, lower shell down 

 and lips outward, and the shells are quickly pried open at the hinge, the upper shell being thrust 

 off. One more stroke severs the oyster from the lower shell, and into the bucket it goes, liquor and 

 all. Some kinds of oysters cannot be easily opened in this way, so they are broken first on the lip 

 edge and entered from that side with the knife. The majority of Mobile oyster openers are very 

 quick while opening either of these ways, but are probably more practiced in the first. The shells 

 are thrown one side in a pile, and the "openers," if left to themselves, will throw away many good, 

 unopened oysters, in order to hasten through their barrel, if they are opening by the barrel, or to 

 get rid of small oysters, if they are opening by the gallon ; therefore it is necessary to have a man 

 employed to watch them and prevent this waste. 



When an "opener" has filled his bucket he takes it to a clerk to be emptied into a strainer, 

 when the oysters are measured and placed to his credit. 



The customary price paid for opening oysters is 35 cents per barrel, or 20 cents per gallon. At 

 certain times of the year a barrel of oysters in shell will yield more opened oysters than at others; 



