JERSEY OYSTER SMACK

The full index of our ship stamp archive
Post Reply
aukepalmhof
Posts: 7771
Joined: Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:28 am

JERSEY OYSTER SMACK

Post by aukepalmhof » Wed Nov 12, 2014 8:48 pm

The colorful history of Jersey’s oyster fishing industry features on a new set of stamps to be issued by Jersey Post on 9 October 2014. The stamps, painted by local artist Nick Parlett, depict scenes both past and present, of this important aspect of the Island’s great heritage.
The Jersey Stamp Bulletin Autumn 2014 gives by the set:
Jersey’s huge tidal range provides the perfect opportunity to produce some of the most stunning natural produce in Europe. The colorful history of its oyster industry is celebrated as part of the island’s great heritage and scenes from both the past and the present are depicted on our six stamps and Miniature Sheet
The oyster fisheries had existed in Jersey for centuries but it was in the period following the Napoleonic Wars that they had the greatest impact on the island’s economic development. In 1810 the British government encouraged fishermen to increase production as part of the war effort and English fishermen moved into the area. Soon a large-scale trade developed and pressure on the oyster beds grew. Clashes between fishermen became common requiring the involvement of the French Navy and invention between the French and British governments and by the 1860s the industry was all but finished.
The basis of this great industry was the flat oyster, also known as the common European or the native British oyster-l’huître plate, Ostrea edulis. Although oysters were regarded as a delicacy 300-400 years ago, by the 19th century they were plentiful and cheap. Favorites were the oysters of Cancale, France and it was that were dredged for off Jersey; the 1799 Prince de Bouillon map shows two districts beds-the Great and Little Oyster Banks- off the east coast of the island.
In Jersey crews were largely from England, and shore workers tended to be islanders who sorted oysters at low water into those fit for the English market and those destined for local tables.
Oyster boats dumped their catch overboard at Gorey harbor where the oysters were sorted and washed before being reloaded and taken to England to be laid down on fattening grounds in a river or estuary to sweeten up for sale later in the season.
However over-fishing, pollution and protectionist policies led to a shortage of oysters which heralded the collapse of the industry; as availability diminished, they once more became a luxury only the very rich could afford. Sadly, by the end of the 1870s, the Jersey oyster fisheries were dead and the boats were gone. The industry revived in 1894 with an oyster farm being set up in St Clements Bay in the south-east of the island. Everything was going well until there was an outbreak of typhoid in England and the cause was given as oysters coming from estuaries contaminated by sewage, in the end, what killed the oyster industry in Jersey was fear caused by the linking of oysters to typhoid in the 1890s.
Of course, the method of supplying oysters has changed greatly since these early days and three main suppliers currently operate in Jersey exporting over 550 tons of oysters a year. Most are farmed in the Royal Bay of Grouville benefitting from the daily natural filtering effect of Jersey’s unique tide and crystal clear water. Where once a frenzy of oyster’s boats dredged the bottom of the seas rows of oyster beds are now tended to by staff at low tide with the use of tractors and trailers and modern vessels are used to transport staff and delivery large volumes to France. The oyster industry thrives again.

http://www.jersey.com/english/eatingout ... ustry.aspx gives;
The oyster fishery which flourished in Jersey during the last century was probably the most successful indigenous fishery in the Island’s history. At its height it employed 2,000 fishermen working 300 smacks from 1 September to 1 June, as well as providing work for about 1,000 of the poorer inhabitants of the east coast of the Island.
In 1797 several oyster banks were discovered by British and Jersey fishermen a few miles to the north west of the Iles de Chaussey, between three and nine miles from the French coast. The distraction of the Revolution prevented the French from exploiting the beds and the Jersey fishermen took full advantage and developed the fishery.
In 1810 a regular export was established to supply the Kent and Sussex oyster companies. The port of Gorey was used to transfer the catch to English vessels. By 1830 the Kent and Sussex firms employed upwards of 250 boats each with a crew of six. A further 70 boats from other ports including Portsmouth, Southampton and Shoreham also worked the bed. The trade brought as much as £40,000 a year into Jersey and to meet the growing needs of the industry, port facilities were improved. A pier was built at Gorey and jetties were constructed at Bouley Bay, Rozel and La Rocque. There was also a pickling factory at Gorey.
By 1833 the fishery was concentrated on the beds in Grouville Bay. This had come about due to the successful opposition by the French to the dredging of the beds off Chassey by English vessels. In 1821 a French armed vessel had harassed the dredgers and in May 1822 a commission was formed to survey the disputed grounds. A naval vessel was sent to protect boats fishing more than three miles from the French coast. In 1824 this was increased to six miles effectively excluding Jersey and English vessels from the banks and forcing them to fish in Grouville Bay. These banks were incapable of sustaining such pressure and the effects of overfishing became apparent. In 1835 only 150,000 bushels were dredged compared with 306,000 the previous year. After 1862 many of the English vessels had left the Island to fish the beds off Dieppe, and by 1871 only six oyster boats were left.
Fishing gradually became inshore and short range with Les Ecrehous and Les Minquiers being the main offshore areas fished. In the early part of the 20th Century boats usually sailed out to these reefs and stayed there all week potting. The fishing industry was hit hard by the 1914 - 1918 War and did not really recover during the inter-war period with only a handful of full time fishermen operating. During WWII fishing almost ceased. Licences were granted but fishing areas were severely restricted because of the minefields.
After the war, fishing for lobster formed the major activity for the fleet which increased steadily from six vessels in the late 1940s to 15 full-time in the late 1960s.
Information compiled by the
States of Jersey Fisheries and Marine Resources

More info is given on: http://www.theislandwiki.org/index.php? ... g_industry
The fishing vessel depict on this three stamps of 46, 56 and 62p and MS £2 is a smack, a generalized term for a decked, fore-and-aft-rigged vessel that engaged mainly in trawling for oysters in Jersey.
She worked mainly during the 19th and into the 20th century.
Built of wood with mostly a straight or slightly curved and stern was rounded or had a raked transom. She were mostly cutter rigged.

Jersey 2014 46, 56, 62, 70, 82 and 91c Miniature Sheet £2 sg?, scott? (The 91p shows a modern vessel used in the oyster fishing, on which I have not any info or details.)

Source: Aak to Zumbra a Dictionary of the World’s Watercraft.
Attachments
Image (100).jpg
Image (12).jpg
Image (13).jpg
Image (11).jpg
Image (14).jpg
Image (15).jpg
Image (10).jpg

Post Reply