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One of my uncles always contended that the first man or woman to eat a raw oyster was either the bravest person in the world or the hungriest. That would have been long before we had hot sauces and other condiments for dipping, or even a cold beer to wash them down, so he might be right.
But, whoever that person was or whatever the reason, he or she did the folks of south Louisiana a huge favor. That first gourmand not only introduced a delicacy that is a staple of our cuisine, but also one that for years has been a substantial contributor to our seafood industry.
The oyster marketing people say that more than a million Louisiana oysters are consumed every day across the United States, making Louisiana the top producer of oysters in the nation. One indicator of their historic importance is the fact that the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries was first established in 1872 as the Oyster Fishing Regulatory Board.
Water conditions, temperatures, and other things help Louisiana oysters grow plumper than those harvested on the Atlantic coast. Connoisseurs also claim our oysters have a special flavor that isn’t found in oysters from any other place. That’s something that apparently has been known for more than a century. It’s a reason that the Abbeville Meridional and Cameron Pilot had cause to complain in February 1900 about “pirates” coming from other places to harvest oysters that should be saved for local folk.
“Vermilion Bay and the coast are the location of many fine oyster reefs,” the Meridional reported in February 1900. “They properly belong to our people, but are now the prey of a lot of oyster pirates from God knows where.”
The Pilot said the appeal of Calcasieu oysters brought “wandering, wifeless, childless usurpers” to Big Lake (Calcasieu Lake) and coastal waters, that the pirates kept growing in number, and they threatened to destroy the business for everyone.
“Each of these fellows have forty relations and the last jack of them tongs oysters,” the Pilot claimed. “You tongmen who last week were praying for a cannery will, in three years, be praying for oysters.
“If the reefs are to be looted by wandering lugger-men the resident tongmen may as well begin looking for cotton ranches. These fellows who are here today and there tomorrow will scrape the river bottom clean. They will lather and shave the reefs until there is no longer stubble left. Add to this a cannery and the goose stops laying.”
The complaint had some merit. Most Louisiana oysters in those days were harvested from waters in southeast Louisiana below New Orleans. The first extensive map of Louisiana oyster producing areas was done by H. F. Moore in 1898, when the legislature was trying to come up with the state’s first regulations for the oyster harvest.
It showed “a small area of highly productive reefs in South West Pass” off Vermilion Parish (Karen Wicker, The Development of the Louisiana Oyster Industry in the 19th Century, LSU dissertation, 1979), as well as smaller areas “in the lower reaches of Calcasieu Lake,” and still smaller areas in Atchafalaya Bay and Vermilion Bay. Most Louisiana production was east of Four League Bay in Terrebonne Parish, and most of that was near the mouth of the Mississippi.
Wherever they were harvested, oysters were regarded as a culinary necessity. Practically every restaurant advertising in the New Orleans newspapers in the early 1800s promised fresh oysters every day, and consumers in the city moaned about their cost.
As early as 1837, the Times-Picayune complained in an editorial that oysters could be bought for 12 cents a hundred directly off the boats, but that the price more than doubled by the time they got to New Orleans markets.
“Oysters are too dear,” the newspaper argued. “There is no reason why they should not be the cheapest article of food in the market. … This is a subject that interests every man, woman, and child in New Orleans; for who does not love oysters? Something must be done.”
Just two years later, 1839, the New Orleans True American complained, “It is a shame why oysters, so plentiful in the city, should … be sold higher than fifty cents. Now they cannot be obtained under one dollar or one dollar and a half, and we have even seen them sold at ten dollars [for] one hundred.”
In 1900, when the Meridional and Pilot made their complaints, there was little concern about nurturing the oyster beds close to New Orleans and they were being rapidly depleted. That caused cut-throat competition among the fishermen, kept prices high in New Orleans, and caused oystermen to wander farther afield.
That might offer a clue as to just where those wandering, wifeless, childless usurpers raiding south Louisiana beds were coming from.
A collection of Jim Bradshaw’s columns, "Cajuns and Other Characters," is now available from Pelican Publishing. You can contact him at jimbradshaw4321@gmail.com or P.O. Box 1121, Washington LA 70589.

Submitted Photos
Mary Alice Fuhrer, a parent and member of Pet Partners, spoke with fourth-grade students at Central Catholic Elementary School about the volunteer work she and her family dog, Loui, perform as members of the therapy animal program. She explained that both she and Loui have completed coursework and an evaluation that assessed their aptitude to participate in the Pet Partners program. They are now qualified to interact with a variety of patients, including the sick, elderly and those with intellectual disabilities.

The following are the radio dispatch logs from the Morgan City Police Department. To report unlawful or suspicious activity, call the police department at 985-380-4605.

Thursday, Feb. 21

8:55 a.m. 500 block of Barrow Street; Domestic disturbance.

10:13 a.m. 500 block of Roderick Street; Complaint.

10:13 a.m. 2400 block of Cedar Street; Alarm.

11:43 a.m. 800 block of Levee Road; Assistance.

12:04 p.m. 300 block of Cardinal Street; Disturbance.

1:34 p.m. 500 block of Roderick Street; Assistance.

1:47 p.m. 900 block of Cottonwood Street; Complaint.

2:25 p.m. La. 182 East; Complaint.

2:26 p.m. 600 block of General McArthur Street; Phone harassment.

2:41 p.m. 7200 block of La. 182 East; Phone harassment.

4:35 p.m. 2400 block of Cypress Street; Complaint.

4:57 p.m. 2300 block of La. 70; Suspicious person.

5:52 p.m. 3000 block of Keith Street; Medical.

6:16 p.m. 7000 block of Railroad Avenue; 911 hang up.

6:49 p.m. Greenwood and Fifth streets; Disturbance.

7:56 p.m. 300 block of Aucoin Street; Animal.

8:39 p.m. 7100 block of Park Street; Medical.

8:44 p.m. 6300 block of La. 182; Utilities

11:01 p.m. Sixth and Everett streets; Animal.

CENTERVILLE -- If plans approved Thursday by the St. Mary School Board hold true, parish public schools will have a new superintendent by the end of the month.

The board decided in a special meeting to begin interviewing the four candidates to succeed Leonard Armato at 5 p.m. Feb. 28 at the Central Office Complex in Centerville. Armato is retiring June 30 after four years in the top job.

The interviews will be conducted in a closed-door session and consist of eight pre-selected questions over a period of about 45 minutes for each candidate. The board plans to make its selection the same night.

If no one gets the required six votes from the 11-member board on the first attempt, the board will vote again on the top two vote-getters.

Through all the discussions that set up the procedure, the most controversial item was the interview meeting date.

Previously, board members had talked about a Saturday meeting for the interviews. On Thursday, board President Michael Taylor suggested a 3 p.m. Feb. 28 meeting. Taylor said he'd talked with other board members about that date.

That didn't sit well with Vice President Pearl Rack, who had a scheduling conflict on Feb. 28. So, as it turned out, did board member Joseph Foulcard.

"You talked to other board members," Rack told Taylor. "You didn't talk to me."

The board voted for the 3 p.m. Feb. 28 meeting. Members Taylor, Roland Verret, Wayne Deslatte, Ginger Griffin, Kenny Alfred, Alaina Black and Dwight Barbier voted for that time and date. Rack, Foulcard and Sylvia Lockett voted against. Member Marilyn LaSalle was absent.

The decision lasted only a short time before Alfred moved to reconsider.

"I couldn't sleep at night knowing we voted two of our members out of the selection process," Alfred said.

"Thank you very, very much for making that motion," Rack said.

After a short discussion, members found they could accommodate Foulcard and Rack by pushing the meeting time back to 5 p.m. Feb. 28. A motion to that effect passed unanimously on a voice vote.

The board also considered whether to conduct the interviews in a public session or in a closed executive session. Black moved to hold interviews in front of the public.

"I do feel like our stakeholders should see how we choose (a superintendent)," Black said.

In any case, the final vote would occur in an open session, legal adviser Eric Duplantis said.

But Deslatte said the public session might work against good interviews. In a closed session, he said, "I think the candidates are more at ease and we get more information."

Griffin said a public session would put the first candidate to be interviewed at a disadvantage, because he or she would not know the questions in advance while the other interviewees would.

The vote to conduct the interviews in open session failed 6-4, with Black, Foulcard, Lockett and Rack voting in favor. Taylor, Deslatte, Barbier, Griffin, Verret and Alfred voted against.

On a separate motion to hold the closed session, Foulcard voted yes, so the vote was 7-3.

The candidates will be interviewed in this order, chosen at random:

—Clyde Washington, executive assistant superintendent of administration in Rapides Parish with 22 years’ experience.

—Dr. Teresa Bagwell, assistant St. Mary superintendent with 37 years’ experience.

—Dr. Glen Barnes, the only out-of-state applicant, a principal in Cleveland, Texas, with 20 years’ experience.

—Dr. Buffy Fegenbush, St. Mary instructional supervisor of secondary education, with 27 years’ experience.

The board advertised a starting salary of $120,000 to $140,000 for the new superintendent.

St. Mary Parish Council member Craig Mathews had talked to the board Feb. 14 in favor a St. Mary Principals Association request to have non-participating members present at the interviews, to submit questions for the candidates and to make a recommendation about the hiring. The board didn't take up the request then.

Mathews spoke that night in impassioned terms about a lack of transparency and inclusiveness and about a community that doesn't trust the school board.

He was back Thursday, saying that he "did not intend to be insensitive to this body."

Mathews asked again for the board to be inclusive and consider views from St. Mary residents.

Taylor said the principals have already submitted good questions. But opening the interviews to others could lead to more demands, he said.

"To me, it gets kind of convoluted at that point," Taylor said.

A motion to reconsider the requests failed.

Later, after the first vote on the meeting date that would have excluded Rack and Foulcard, Mathews said loudly from the audience, "Now you see why we don't trust you." Then he strode out of the meeting room.

If he'd stayed, he'd have seen the vote to reconsider the meeting time.