In 1595, George Owen wrote 'Pennar Mowth is the creeke that cometh up to Pembroke town, this being the greatest and largest creeke in all Milford, it passeth up into the land 3 myles. The Crowe is a hollow or shelf a pretty way within the entrance of Pennar Mouth and it is an oyster bed and on the Crowe groweth one of the best oysters of all Milford being a big and sweet oyster, the poore people thereabouts are greatly relieved by the oysters there, for upon lowe water the bed is drye and the people gather the oysters there without any dredge or other helpe of boate.' He also noted that the oysters were being taken by 'barkes to Bristowe' and that typical cargos being sent to Barnstaple in 1592-3 was around 20,000 oysters. Oysters continued to be an important export to Bristol, London, Liverpool, Bridgewater, Ireland, Lisbon and Holland, through the 17th and 18th centuries. However, in around 1719, a memorandum was raised by William Lloyd, Deputy Vice-Admiral for the County of Pembroke, 'to the Water Bailiffs in the County, the Masters of Ships within the Harbours of Milford and, if occasion requires, to Hugh Fowler and William Bowen Esquires, Justices of the Peace,' to halt foriegn vessels taking oysters away to the detriment of food supplies for local people. In the early 19th century, the oyster fisheries in Milford Haven were still famous, especially those at Pennar Mouth and Llangwm, with very large quantities being pickled and sent to Bristol.

Sources include:
Admiralty; 1884, Sailing Directions for the Bristol Channel, 4th Ed, pg56
George Owen of Henllys, 1595, The Deccription of Pembrokeshire, pub Gomer Press 1994

Maritime Officer, RCAHMW, September 2014.