this little museum in western p.e.i. began as an oyster research facility nearly 100 years ago
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james barlow, left, took on the role of director at the p.e.i. shellfish museum this year. sharon burleigh has worked as a tour guide for the last 16 years.
kristin gardiner
/
journal pioneer
bideford-ellerslie, p.e.i. — on the coast, off the main road near tyne valley, lies a little-known museum that has spent this summer hoping to spread awareness and boost engagement from locals and tourists alike.
it’s the p.e.i. shellfish museum, with a collection of shellfish — mainly oysters — to look at, and displays that, when walking through, teach visitors all about the industry as it stands today, and its history on the island.
“how long it takes to grow, and some of the work they have to do, and how they get fish through the ice, for different seafood,” said sharon burleigh.
burleigh has worked in the oyster industry for around 35 years. for the last 16 years, she’s been the tour guide at the p.e.i. shellfish museum and has enjoyed every moment.
when asked if there is anything visitors are surprised to learn while walking around, burleigh said: “all of it,” but added people are, in particular, blown away to learn about the process and how long oysters take to grow to market size.
for the last few decades, the p.e.i. shellfish museum has taught visitors about shellfish, mainly oysters, and the history of the industry on the island.
kristin gardiner
/
journal pioneer
“it takes five to seven years to get that oyster market size,” she said. “they think it comes out of the water ready for your plate. no, that’s not so.”
it takes about 15-20 minutes to go through the museum, and burleigh is always available to ask questions about what visitors are reading.
james barlow, p.e.i. shellfish association treasurer and a wild oyster fisher of thirteen years, echoed the sentiment.
“you hear a lot of, they go around the room reading, and they’re like, ‘hm, hm,’” he said. “you hear a lot of, ‘i didn’t realize that.’”
almost everyone, barlow added, leaves wanting the same thing: to stop at a restaurant to grab some shellfish.
history
before the little yellow building became home to the museum, it was a research facility, built in 1930.
per historicplaces.ca, the oyster industry had been suffering from decades of overfishing, as well as a disease that had wiped out around 90 per cent of island oysters in 1913.
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with the hope of learning about the disease and restoring the industry, the department of fisheries hired dr. alfred w.h. needler. this was the lab where he conducted his studies.
a collection of shellfish on display at the p.e.i. shellfish museum.
kristin gardiner
/
journal pioneer
when disease broke out once more in the 1930s, needler had a storage of oyster spat that helped revitalize the oyster population.
no cure for the disease, said barlow, was ever found.
but then — like now, with the industry facing high oyster mortality from msx and dermo — they used disease-resistant oyster seed to help mitigate the crisis.
“he re-enhanced the whole island,” said barlow. “the whole island is malpeque oysters because of this bay. this is where he did all his work.”
called the ellerslie biological station, the building continued to serve as a research facility until its closure in 1996. shortly thereafter, the p.e.i. shellfish association transformed it into the museum it still is today.
these fossils are the newest exhibit at the p.e.i. shellfish museum, and they’re one of museum director james barlow’s favourite pieces.
kristin gardiner
/
journal pioneer
present day
this year, barlow was hired on as the museum director to help breathe some new life into the facility.
“they wanted the museum to get more notice,” he said. “a lot of people don’t know it’s even here.”
the initiative, he said, has been a success, and more people have stopped in than in years past. not just locals, but people from all over the world, including the united kingdom, the netherlands and germany.
“it seems like we get more tourists,” said barlow. “there’s not as much local people. stuff hasn’t been updated a lot, so they’ve been here and they’re like, we’ve already seen it, right?”
barlow has also been busy updating the displays, both in ensuring the facts and statistics are up to date, as well as adding a french translation.
james barlow, director of the p.e.i. shellfish museum, points to a display on mussels.
kristin gardiner
/
journal pioneer
there are also now televisions playing on both the first and second floor, showing western p.e.i. tourism videos on one screen and videos to showcase various island shellfish industries on the other.
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one of barlow’s favourite pieces in the museum is also its most recent, acquired this summer: 145 million-year-old fossils from morocco, and 95 million-year-old fossils from madagascar.
barlow hopes that won’t be the only new exhibit, and has reached out to the tyne valley oyster festival and the p.e.i. international shellfish festival about getting displays from them, as well.
“i’m going to take my heart-shaped oysters in that i have collected over the years, and put them in there too,” he said. “i would love to have little exhibits for kids to be able to learn about grading oysters, and stuff like that.”
a collection of oysters at the p.e.i. shellfish museum.
kristin gardiner
/
journal pioneer
as part of his goals, barlow also wants to find ways to engage children. at the time of speaking to the journal pioneer, he had filed a request with the department of fisheries and oceans that, if approved, would allow the museum to have a lobster on display in one of the currently vacant aquariums.
“then we can have the lobster in the actual museum, do like a little contest where kids can name it, give it its own little social media and have a following and try to bring people in by using that,” said barlow.
he laughed, “people will want to come in and see it, right?”
the museum is located at 144 bideford rd., in ellerslie, and is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., monday to saturday and closed sunday. it’s open for the season from june 12 to sept. 24.
kristin gardiner is a reporter for the journal pioneer in prince edward island. she can be reached at kgardiner@postmedia.com.
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