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Merimbula Lake:

Oystering in Merimbula Lake was conducted on a small scale until just after WWI, when Cameron Munn brought 80 bags of spat from Port Hacking. Government authorities supported his enterprise & reserved leases below the bridge for ex-servicemen, a post-war initiative similar to the Soldier Settlement Scheme. Not surprisingly then, most of Merimbula Lake’s early oyster farmers were returned servicemen, although other local families also took up leases, some of which are still being worked by their descendants today.

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Looking across Merimbula Lake with oyster leases in the foreground, C. 1910. Courtesy of the George Family Collection.

In 1923 a Merimbula oysterman shipped ten bags to the Sydney markets where they were fetching  £4 a bag & it was reported that "...oyster leases are the best farms these days…” Three years later a local paper said that “Oyster culture is a big thing at Merimbula. One holder is said to be clearing £600 a year.” In 1928, one hundred bags had reportedly been shipped from Merimbula Lake to Sydney during May, a record monthly output since the inception of the industry in the lake.

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Merimbula’s Bill Chapman Snr & his son Bill Jnr harvesting oysters.

Noted Merimbula oyster farmers over the years have included John Elliott, “Jack” Warn, Pitt Warn, Reg Warn, Jack Maloney, Henry Cousemacker, Sam Cole, Gus Cole, Dave Smith, Alan Gale, Gus Jackson, Jack & Peter Cole, Chiffa High & Alan James. A number of local fishermen such as Don Mitchelson also worked leases.

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Oystering remains a mainstay of Merimbula’s economy today, with farmers producing around three per cent of the total NSW Sydney rock oyster output, in addition to a small amount of flat (or mud) oysters.

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