Annual Calendar of Activities of Cockle and Oyster Harvesters. The oyster collection used to be carried-out from December to June until recently (2011) when, by consensus, the oyster harvesters agreed to reduce the harvesting season from March through June. When the women are not engaged in oyster harvesting or cockle gathering, they engage in other activities to earn a living such as xxxxx trading, firewood collection, working as house maids, rice farming, small-scale fish trading (selling fresh and smoked fish), as shown in the calendar below (Table 1). Table 1. Annual calendar of activities of the oyster and cockle harvesters. ACTION JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEPT OCT NOV DEC Oyster harvesting X X X X X Cockle harvesting X X X X X Xxxxx trading X X X X X Firewood collection X X X X X X X X X X X X House maid X X X X X Rice farming X X X X X Fish trading X X X X X 3.8 Water Quality Water quality studies were undertaken by the Ba Nafaa Project in order to determine whether there are public health risks from contamination of the harvesting areas (e.g. contamination from E. coli bacteria in the water where oysters and cockles are grown). Initial data was collected (see Figure 7 below) for one year to assess any seasonal variations in potential health risks. Water samples were collected from the 15 oyster harvesting communities within Tanbi Wetlands National Park and Western Region on a fortnightly basis and analyzed at the Water Quality Monitoring and Control Laboratory of the Department of Water Resources in Abuko. Total and fecal coliforms were determined by use of the membrane filtration method, using standard TC and FC media. Coliform counts were done using 25 mL of filtrate and reported as colony counts per 100mL of sample as is routinely reported in shellfish sanitary water quality literature (e.g. Graybow et al. 1981).
