A few weeks ago our family was up at Whitney point for some crabbing and playing on the water.We had a really hard time finding any legal crabs.Later in the day I watched some Indians make a few trips in to the launch with pots and over a 1000 lbs of crab.Here we are lucky to get a couple limits of crabs and they are bringing in huge tubs of crab.I know its their right.Just wish I didnt have to see it.Too bad the seasons couldnt be seperated so the sports and tribes arent out at the same time.

This 1 bummed me out more.We were up in the same area last week.As we were walking out to 1 of our favorite spots to get steamers.I see a couple boats that the tide left high and dry.As we get further out I see several more boats in the same predicament.I start looking around and see all these blue mesh bags filled with oysters.Their are stacks of them all over the place.With people walking around with 5 gallon buckets dumping them into the mesh bags.I couldnt believe I was scratching the ground for clams,measuring them then counting them as I put them in a bucket.Till I got a limit of 40.While watch whats going on around me,I just got madder and madder.I think I know now why we shuck our 18 oysters on the beach and leave them at the same tide level.Its so we can leave enough behind so that somebody else can come in and cream huge amounts of them with hardly any effort.I say let them get oysters.But make them shuck them just like the rest of us do.I bet with the extra work they wouldnt be so enthusiastic about harvesting so many oysters.
Fortunately I had a few family members around to help me keep my anger in check.

My last big bummer is,I had 3hours of surgury on my right shoulder Thurs. Had to have anchors set in the bone then have the cartilage and bicep muscle sewn to that.In 2 spots,plus had a torn rotater cuff that had to be cleaned up. What timing,right during the start of prime fishing.It looks like my fishing and probably hunting season are going to be severly limited. I'm praying that I'm able to get some of both in though.Gotta try to be optimistic.

No. You shuck your 18 oysters on the beach so that you give the new oyster spawn someplace to attach to. You are renewing the resource that you just took.

Ever wonder what happens to all those oyster shells that are harvested? They are almost always either put back in the water to allow the oyster spawn to attach, or they are given to oyster growers, who manually transplant the spawn to the shells and re-seed them on the oyster beds.

Either way, the shells are not going to waste, and are being used to make new oysters.

This is no different from any other commercial oyster operation. The oysters are gathered up, schucked in a plant, and the old shells are seeded and put back on the beds.

Not too sure what your beef is here, other than Yet Another Native American Bashing Thread.

I was being little sarcastic about why we leave the shells where we shuck them.I guess seeing all those oysters leave the beach and having never seen what looked like a place where so many shells having been harvested,then having the shells returned leaves me a little skeptical.I hope your right on that insight.I'll have to keep a better eye out for those types of signs.I'm curious.Do any of those oysters ever get sold,"in the shell"thus not making their way back to the beach.
I'm not intending to do more bashing with what I wrote.I apologize if it came out that way.Its just an observation on mine,and probably 1000s of other peoples part.Fortunately we have people like you to educate us on how those things are done.

The oyster deal wasnt at Point Whitney.It was in what I would call the area.But a few miles south.Maybe I should have been more precise.Also with the oyster deal,I said people.not Indians or native americans or anything else.Because I wanted it known I didnt like the practice,no matter who it was.(the same for crabbing)Not because they were a member of any certain race.I should have done the same with the crabbing scenario.Unfortunately I never.I dont feel like I was jumping to conclusions.Like you Aunty. But now that you brought it up I would have to say that of the people I saw up close, harvesting the oysters,yes they were Native Americans.
And I did watch what was going on for some time,wondering if they were seeding oyster beds,collecting samples,doing surveys, or something else.Before I came to the conclusion that they were harvesting live in the shell oysters.

Aunty,
Point well taken.Thanks for the update.I would love to have your share of oysters.We all love them here.If the oysterbeds are so underutilized its a shame we cant get WDFW to liberlize the quotas a bit.
I'm up in the Brinnon area quite a bit as we have a vacation home there.I guess I'll have to spend some time at the lab getting to know the people there so I can be betterv informed.

"Anyone that wants MY share of oysters are welcome to then. YUCK!"

AuntieM, contact me offline and I'll get you a delivery address.

:p