As they say, one man’s loss is another man’s gain, and this year’s Sydney Rock Oyster harvest for farmers on the mid north coast is no different.
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With the Pacific Oysters industry in Tasmania hard hit by a disease called Pacific Oyster Mortality Syndrome (POMS), the South Australian market, which sources its stock from Tasmania’s oyster hatcheries, has also taken a fall...… leaving an opportunity for NSW’s mid north coast’s Sydney Rock Oysters to gain a stronger foothold in the market.
This year's harvest has definitely been above average, agreed Graham Barclay and Barclay’s Oysters general manager Richard Ellery, both citing different reasons.
“The salinity’s been very high, we’ve had high tides, no real rain,” said Graham.
“And demand is up. We’ve been flat out. We’ve operated at maximum capacity all year,” added Richard, citing 12 hour days across Christmas holiday period.
“I’d say we’re up 15 per cent on last year.”
And while expressing commiseration with their oyster colleagues down south, both agreed it was about time things picked up.
“The oyster industry has been in decline for a number of years due to different factors,” said Richard, referring to various water quality issues and diseases which can afflict farmers through no fault of their own. After all, oysters are essentially water filters, referred to by some as the ‘canaries of the estuaries’. If something goes wrong, oysters will know about it.
Barclays’ Oysters, the country’s biggest Sydney Rock Oyster producer, no longer farm oysters elsewhere other than Wallis Lake, whose water both men agreed is in excellent condition. The business has divested of leases in Brisbane Waters, the Hawkesbury and Port Stephens, and last year produced more than 250,000 dozen oysters from these waters alone.
Forty per cent of its market is local, the rest is sold in Queensland, which has traditionally sought Pacific Oysters.
“There’s been a shortage of supply of oysters throughout Australia over the past three years, and we’ve been able to capitalise on that… The local market remains fairly stable, but over Christmas we can only produce so many.”
And while demand is up, so is the quality, with several dry seasons and warmer temperatures adding to the overall quality of the harvest – which takes place between September to April.
“Rainfall is good at other times of the year, it flushes out the system, but it also affects our ability to harvest,” Richard said.
Fortunately for Wallis Lake farmers, there hasn’t been a “closure” this year – an unusual occurrence according to Richard.
The company is still restocking its infrastructure after a suspicious fire burnt down thousands of dollars worth of trays and oyster sticks in July. Fortunately, no oysters were lost. No one has been charged in relation to the fire.
