Year No. of Bags. Value.
L
1887 1,692 1,967
1888 1,990 3,326
1889 1,914 3,677
1890 3,257 6,580
1891[A] 1,869 3,542
[Footnote A: six months]
The revenue received on account of Oyster Fisheries for the year ending
30th June, 1981, was as follows:--
Brisbane ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...L4,360 17 9
Maryborough ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 875 10 0
Gladstone ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 400 0 0
Rockhampton ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2 0 0
Thursday Island (Flinders Group) ... ... 7 0 0
---------------
Total L5,645 7 9
The number of men and boats employed in connection with the oyster
industry in Moreton Bay are--men 82, boats 36; and the number of banks
worked are 241.
Licenses for catching fish at this port have been issued as follows for
the current year:--Europeans, 99 men and 46 boats; Chinese, 32 men and
16 boats.
Attached hereto is the Inspector's Report on the Oyster and other
Fisheries in the Maryborough district.
I have, &c,
T. M. ALMOND,
Portmaster and Chairman Marine Board.
CASUALTIES TO VESSELS on the QUEENSLAND COAST for the year ended 30th
June, 1891.
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
| | T | | | | | |
| | o | | | | | |
| Name | n | | Nature and | Total | | |
| of | n | Date. | Locality of | or | Lives| Result of |
| Vessel. | a | | Casualty. | Partial | Lost.| Inquiry. |
| | g | | | Loss. | | |
| | e | | | | | |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
| | | 14 | Stranding, | | | |
| Taldora, | 232 | July | Eagle Rock, | Partial | None | Master |
| s.s. | | 1890 | Fitzroy River | | | cautioned. |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
| | | 20 | Stranding, | | | Pilot's license |
| Archer, | 694 | July | M Reef, | Partial | None | suspended |
| s.s. | | 1890 | Inner Route | | | 3 months. |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
| | | 22 | Stranding, | | | |
| Changsha, |1463 | July | Rattray Island, | Partial | None | Master severely |
| s.s. | | 1890 | Inner Route | | | censured. |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
| | | 06 | Stranding, | | | |
| Volga, |1620 | August | Beresford Shoal | Total | None | No default. |
| barque | | 1890 | | | | |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
| Grace | | 12 | Stranding, | | | |
| Lynn, | 93 | August | reef off | Partial | None | Master Guilty; |
| schr. | | 1890 | Low Island | | | gross negligence. |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
| | | 22 | Stranding, | | | |
| Joseph, | 687 | August | Heroine Reef, | Total | None | Foreign vessel. |
| barque | | 1890 | Endeavour Strait| | | No inquiry. |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
| Royal | | 22 | Foundering, | | | |
| Duke, | 105 | August | Cooktown | Partial | None | No default. |
| schr. | | 1890 | Harbour | | | |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------|
| Jennie | | 21 | | | | |
| Scott, | 38 |September| Stranding, | Total | None | No default. |
| ketch | | 1890 | Flora Reef | | | |
+---------------+-----+---------+--------------+---------+------+--------------------+
| | | 14 | Collision, | | | Pilot's license |
| Taiyuan, |2269 | October | Brisbane | Partial | None | suspended for |
| s.s. | | 1890 | River | | | 3 months. |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
| | | 09 | Fire, | | | |
| Corea, | 382 |November | Brisbane | Partial | None | No default. |
| s.s. | | 1890 | River | | | |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
| | | 11 | Collision, | | | Insufficient |
| Kate, | 147 |November | Brisbane | Total | None | lookout on |
| s.s. | | 1890 | Bar | | | Burwah. |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
| | | 11 | Collision, | | | Insufficient |
| Burwah, | 568 |November | Brisbane | Partial | None | lookout on |
| s.s. | | 1890 | Bar | | | Burwah. |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
| Maori | | 08 | Stranding, | | | |
| King, |2476 |December | Brisbane | Partial | None | No default. |
| s.s. | | 1890 | River | | | |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
| Orange | | 15 | Stranding, | | | |
| Grove, | 385 |December | Dungeness | Partial | None | No default. |
| barque | | 1890 | | | | |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
| | | 18 | Stranding, | | | |
| Fiado, | 985 |December | Brisbane | Partial | None | No default. |
| s.s. | | 1890 | River | | | |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
| | | 07 | Dismasting off | | | |
| Sybil, | 150 | January | Double Island | Partial | None | No default. |
| schr. | | 1891 | Point | | | |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
| Persever- | | 08 | Foundering 18 | | | Master's |
| ance, | 163 | January | miles from High | Total | None | certificates |
| schr. | | 1891 | Peak Point | | | cancelled. |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
| | | 08 | Damage to | | | Engineer's |
| Wawoon, | 50 | January | boiler, | Partial | None | certificate |
| s.s. | | 1891 | Fitzroy River | | | suspended 3 months.|
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------|
| | | 05 | Stranding, | | | |
| Kingswear, | 201 |February | Cordelia Rock | Partial | None | Master |
| s.s. | | 1891 | | | | cautioned. |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------|
| | | 06 | Stranding, | | | |
| Recorder, | 677 |February | Madge Reef, | Partial | None | No default. |
| s.s. | | 1891 | Normanby Sound | | | |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------|
| | | 21 | Stranding, | | | |
| Moltke, | 827 | May | Flinders | Partial | None | Foreign vessel. |
| barque | | 1891 | Opening | | | No inquiry. |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------|
| | | 10 | Collision, | | | |
| Wastwater, |2810 | June | Brisbane | No Loss | None | Master Ranelagh |
| s.s | | 1891 | River | | | cautioned. |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------|
| | | 10 | Collision, | | | |
| Ranelagh, | 836 | June | Brisbane | No Loss | None | Master Ranelagh |
| s.s. | | 1891 | River | | | cautioned. |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
| | | 15 | Stranding, | | | |
| Anahuac, |1220 | June | reef near | Total | None | Foreign vessel. |
| ship | | 1891 | Bramble Cay | | | No inquiry. |
+------------+-----+---------+-----------------+---------+------+--------------------+
Harbour Master's Office,
Maryborough, 31st July, 1891.
SIR,--In accordance with your instructions, I have the honour to submit
the following Report on the Oyster Fisheries of this port, the extreme
limits of which extend from Tin Can Inlet on the south, taking in Wide
Bay, Great Sandy Strait, and Hervey Bay, to the Burrum River on the
north, covering a distance of nearly 100 miles, exclusive of many large
creeks, all containing oyster ground between those limits.
I commenced marking off these oyster banks in July, 1886. We then had
licenses issued for 72 banks, 18 boats, and 42 men, at a revenue of L398
for the year ending 30th June, 1886. We now have for the year ending
30th June, 1891, licenses issued for 175 oyster banks, 30 boats, and 53
men, at a revenue of L942 2s. 6d. [_Vide_ Schedule appended.]
I hope to have the survey of the different sections in Hervey Bay
completed by the end of the present year, when tracings of plans of same
will be forwarded to you. This would have been finished before, but that
I can only spare a few days in each month from my other duties for the
work. I shall then require to run over the whole district again, as a
considerable quantity of new ground has been taken up in the different
sections since first survey, owing to the heavy falls of spat which have
since taken place, portions of which ground previously never carried an
oyster. During the past year large quantities of spat have fallen on the
oyster banks in Hervey Bay and Great Sandy Strait, some of the banks
being literally covered, thus preventing the shipment of good marketable
oysters, which, if removed in their present state, would cause the
destruction of all the young oysters attached to them.
Great attention has been paid by the different licensees to the
cultivation of their banks by removing the poor oysters from the high
ridges, after being carefully culled and separated into clumps
containing from three to four oysters, are deposited on the grass flat
and lower ground lying near. Upwards of 4,000 bags have been treated in
this manner with excellent results.
Over 9,000 bags of marketable oysters, at a rough value of 30s. per bag
(L13,500), have been shipped during the past year by the different
licensees to the various markets of the colonies. Messrs. Leftwich and
Sons alone have sent over 3,500 bags; the Moreton Bay Oyster Company and
Messrs. Perry and Griffin have also shipped large quantities of oysters
for the purpose of cultivating the Moreton Bay banks.
In conclusion, I am pleased to state that the whole business throughout
is in a flourishing condition and steadily increasing in magnitude, and
I feel confident that the revenue received from this industry for the
following year will reach four figures.