Island oyster secret now out

SHIRLEY WHYTE/135651 / 135650

SHUCKS: Jim and Hilli Maass-Barrett shelling their harvested Bluff oysters in their Stewart Island Kai Kart. INSET: A freshly shelled Southern Glory Stewart Island Oyster.

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A Stewart Island company plans to sell farmed Bluff oysters throughout New Zealand and possibly overseas this year.

Stewart Island Marine Farmers began cultivating the oysters about six years ago.

The farmed oysters have previously only been available for sale on Stewart Island but now the company hopes to supply outlets throughout New Zealand.

Maass Mussels Ltd owners Jim and Hilli Maass-Barrett said they had been farming mussels in Big Glory Bay, part of Paterson Inlet, since 1995.

They decided to farm oysters following poor returns for mussels.

"It is our intention to market our oysters under the Southern Glory Stewart Island Oyster Brand, developed by Alister Eade, of EEC Ltd, another mussel farmer from Stewart Island," Mr Maass-Barrett said.

"Several years ago we made some discoveries to do with spawning oysters. We have since patented these discoveries, which have helped us produce oysters in commercial quantities for harvesting this year."

Even though Southern Glory oysters have been harvested aquaculturally in Stewart Island for the past six years, they have only been available for sale on the island.

"But now they will be harvested in larger quantities than previously thought possible, producing enough to supply selected outlets throughout New Zealand and exploring export opportunities as well," he said.

"We have been keeping our fast- growing oysters for brood stock. It seems to be having results as we are getting saleable oysters after three years."

Mr Maass-Barrett said they were quite confident that they were on the right path.

"We have been working up to this point for a number of years; its been an interesting journey and we have learnt a lot about oysters. Most people have been very supportive about our endeavours. Bluff oysters are not easy to farm, if they were people would have been doing it years ago," he said.

EEC had also started harvesting its oysters, which are now available for sale at Stewart Island outlets.

According to Stewart Island Explored, a book written by John Hall-Jones, the oyster industry was started on Stewart Island in the 1860s by Englishman Charles Brett at Port Adventure.

When the beds were exhausted in the early 1870s, Mr Brett developed the Port William oyster beds north of Halfmoon Bay, which later led to the discovery of the Foveaux Strait oyster beds.

- © Fairfax NZ News