Bluff Oyster Fishery: Management in Review

Abstract

From the introduction: "The newspaper reports on the fine quality of this year's oysters fall a little flat; at over a dollar apiece I've stopped buying them. I've another interest in the Bluff oyster now. This paper is the result of research during the summer of 2002-2003 into the way the Bluff oyster fishery has historically been managed. My interest is in both the environmental struggle to conserve the resource, and the cultural struggle on the part of the fishermen to preserve a way of life, and a body of knowledge. The sight of the oyster boat Monica hauled out the water at Bluff and parked outside Bluff's Maritime Museum sustains my interest. As I go aboard I sense the beam of the ship, the wide decks with room to move. I imagine the short and sturdy spars shuddering at the clang of a dredge being shipped, the crash of the oysters on the bench, the motion of the boat, the men working at sea. And, on the side of Bluff Hill the houses of the fishermen overlook the harbour as they have done for generations. There is in Bluff a combination of economy, culture and place that ought to be as productive for my research as the Foveaux Strait was for the oyster fishery."