The oyster
industry was a thriving business in the villages along the Great
South Bay around the turn of the century and some idea of its size
in those years is given in the article for May 28, 1899 in the
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, from which we quote.
“Not only has the
great oyster industry grown within the past five years, but it is in
the constant increase. One of the leading planters and shippers in
the famous Blue Point section, which extends from Patchogue to
Oakdale, made the statement that the oyster industry is valued at
over a million dollars. Twenty large firms are engaged in planting
and shipping oysters throughout this country and to foreign
countries, and hundreds of smaller companies are also engaged in
this business. Then there are the individuals who lease a few acres
and carry their oysters direct to the New York markets. It is
estimated that there are nearly 2,000 individuals and 500 boats
engaged in this work. These figures include only the section from
Patchogue to Oakdale.
“Jacob Ockers, who
is styled the oyster king of the Great South Bay, was the largest
shipper of oysters this season and shipped over 23,000 barrels to
domestic and foreign markets. The firm leases 1000 acres of ground
in the bay from Brookhaven Town, for which they pay the town $1,142
in rents. Last year, Mr. Ockers put down 60,000 bushels of seed and
expects to harvest 150,000 bushels of oysters next fall.
“The Lewis Blue
Point Oyster Cultivation Co. at Sayville is the second largest
shipper of Blue Point oysters this season, and they planted over
50,000 bushels of seed last year. The firm employs 60 men, 18 boats
and a steamer, with a capacity of 600 bushels a day.
“The Westerbeeke
Bros. are the next largest shippers of the season. They shipped
over 10,000 barrels between September 1 and May 1, and employ 40 men
on average through the season.
“The Nassau Oyster
Co. located at Patchogue, employs about 20 men and has 500 acres
leased from Brookhaven Town. This company ships about 15,000
bushels a year. The Town of Brookhaven leased out over 5,000 acres
of bay bottom last year.
“The season is
closing now and the planters are busy putting down seed for next
year. During the past week many boats have arrived in the bay from
the Connecticut shores with thousands of bushels of the seed.
Recently, 10 schooners and four large sloops passed Fire Island with
seed for the Blue Point planters. The seed is raised along the
Connecticut shore and planted in the waters of the Great South Bay.
Usually, the seed matures by the next fall when the season opens,
but at times, it takes two years. The average price paid by the
planters is 50 cents a bushel. About 250 bushels of seed are
planted to an acre and the crop should increase about 50 per cent
over the amount planted, the profit being in the growth of the
oysters.
“The present
season has been very satisfactory to all concerned, and during the
height of the season hundreds of men are employed in both the shops
and on the boats engaged in taking up the oysters. Men are paid
$1.50 a day and $5 is paid for two men and a boat. The average
price paid to the baymen for their oysters delivered at the large
plants is 95 cents a bushels, and about three bushels make a
barrel. These oysters are shipped to the city by fast express
trains at a cost of 40 cents a barrel. The ocean freight rate is 75
cents a barrel and it requires about nine days to reach the English
markets of Liverpool and London, where most of the oysters are
shipped.