May Day in Bivalve

Last week the stalwart folk of Bivalve, N. J., were fully aware that the change of season was upon them. The principal pursuit of Bivalvians consists of handling that particular bivalve known as Ostrea Virginica or "Eastern Oyster." When R and April vanish from the calendar, the sales of Ostrea Virginica soon halt. But May Day brings no rest to those in Bivalve who go down to the flats in sloops. For the closed season on oysters also opens the planting season.

To fill their depleted beds, the oystermen of Delaware Bay, N. J., go to 1,000,000 acres of Government-protected seed beds: dredge for oyster youngsters, then dump them on the commercial farms. From May 1 to June 1 this harvest is allowed but May 1 is the big day. Since seed oysters, by law, can only be gathered from sunrise to sunset, and since the boats engaging in the act must be sail vessels, the annual stocking-up takes on the nature of a race. Last week promptly at 6 a. m. on May 1 a cannon resounded at Bivalve, and 500 sloops hurried down the two-mile stretch to the seed beds.

Just as the potato farmer is never certain of what his crop will be, the oyster-man's reward is always doubtful. Thus last week the oystermen of Bivalve roundly cursed the fact that they have had little rain, that the brackish water needed for oysters was a little too salty, and hence inviting to starfish. No enemy so annoys the oyster as the starfish which, unintelligent in many matters, is smart enough to clutch the bivalve in a deathly grip and tug until Ostrea Virginica in a moment of exhausted abandon opens his shell and allows himself to glide into the starfish's protuberant stomach. Oystermen have learned to clear the water of starfish by using a long mop, but other foes lurk beneath the surface. There are snailfish molluscs known as drills, borers, whelks and conches that congregate upon the oyster in such masses that they smother him. And the drum fish, sometimes several feet long, has such stout teeth that he can crush the oyster, shell and all. Attempts have been made to frighten him away by exploding dynamite, but against this weapon he is foolhardy, fearless.

The oyster business is one of the largest U. S. fisheries, with an annual value of around $14,000,000. About 65,000 persons are engaged in the industry, including the actual oystermen, workers in shucking and canning plants, laborers in shell kilns, and the wholesale mongers.

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