Oyster farming in North Creek

The large remnant shell midden that is located on North Creek is not only testament to the Bundjalung peoples’ long association with the area but also the prolific breeding ground the Creek was for its native oysters. From the time Europeans arrived at North Creek they sought out oysters for food. A little later on oysters were also in demand to process and use or sell as lime – a chief building product used to make mortar at this time. Given, in this era, many buildings in the district were of timber-construction the extent to which local oysters were used for building is unclear – but oysters could be readily exported south where demand was high and brick construction prominent. In 1868, due to the widespread use of live oysters for making lime (live oysters apparently resulted in superior lime), the colonial government legislated against this practice (i.e. from this time only oyster shell could be burnt to make lime).30

In these decades as well the demand for table oysters by settlers led to the regulation of the industry with the introduction of the Oyster Fisheries Act of 1884. This Act established a system capping the number of oyster leases that operated along estuaries throughout the state – this included in North Creek and the Richmond River.

Oyster farming along North Creek was well established by the 1880s; just sixty years later oyster production in the Richmond River (including north Creek) peaked in 1940/41. Across the whole the state oyster production has been in decline since the 1970s.31 In association with the farming of oysters, ‘mangrove sticks’ were also harvested from the Creek, from at least the 1930s. The sticks, onto which oysters were grown, were cut for use by oyster farmers – locally and elsewhere. Mangrove sticks taken from North Creek were from the ‘black mangrove’ tree that naturally grew along it. Cut to a uniform length the sticks were bundled together and fixed upright, a section of the bundle was left exposed onto which the oyster embryo attached itself, and where it grew from the spat stage into a mature oyster.

A newspaper report from October 1935 indicated that 65,000 black mangrove sticks left the Ballina Port in a single shipment; this shipment marked the start of the harvest season. It was further noted that up to six consignments of the same size were expected to be filled exclusively from North Creek during the season.32 North Creek-origin sticks were reportedly sought after given their greater durability than species obtained further south. The sticks that were sold on from Ballina and harvested from North Creek were used by commercial growers in the Hawkesbury, Port Stephens and Karuah River districts.33 From records uncovered to date, it is understood that the sticks were harvested from North Creek for up to two decades.

30 NSW Department of Primary Industries, NSW Oyster Industries Sustainable Aquaculture Strategy, (January 2014). 31 NSW Department of Primary Industries, NSW Oyster Industries Sustainable Aquaculture Strategy, (January 2014), 7. 32 OYSTER STICKS (1935, October 5). Northern Star (Lismore, NSW : 1876 - 1954), 8. Retrieved December 15 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article225508650 33 Oyster Sticks (1935) & OYSTER STICK DEMAND (1930, November 14). Northern Star (Lismore, NSW : 1876 - 1954), 6. Retrieved December 15 2018, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article94160383

Early twentieth century view of River Street, Ballina. European settlement along North Creek and the main arm of the River saw the establishment of Ballina township. Throughout the twentieth century Ballina and its surrounding localities have continued to expand, changing and placing new stresses on the North Creek catchment. Private collection.