Native Oyster Information
The native oyster’s (Ostrea edulis) reputation as being the finest oyster on the market is well deserved and was famously recognised by the Roman historian, Pliny who said that they were the only good things to come out of Britain during the Roman occupation. With Colchester the capital of what was a colonial outpost, the Romans soon appreciated the quality of the oysters on their doorstep and even took them back to their own country slung over the side of their boats, in nets to keep them fresh: for huge oyster feasts that would last several days.
Humans have built communities around natural oyster beds for many thousands of years and the passion for these molluscs has been passed down through the generations. Today our native oysters are once more in very good condition, as we now have a greater knowledge of their breeding and growth habits. Likewise considerable efforts have been made over the past 20 years to clean up Britain’s coastal waters.
These oysters take between 4-5 years to grow to a marketable size and are much more sensitive to their environment than the ‘rock’ oysters. They grow in deeper waters that are not exposed at low tides and hence have to be collected using a dredge towed behind a boat, traditionally an oyster smack. The dredge scoops the shells into a net bag that retains the oysters while leaving the sediment behind, this technique has remained practically untouched over the past century, with the size of the dredge being the only thing that has changed.
As with most shellfish, native oysters use the water temperature as an indicator of the season and as the water in the coastal estuaries warms up the oysters start to breed. With a large portion of their energy being used in the reproductive process the oysters loose weight during this period and become undesirable to eat. This accounts for the well know fact that you can only eat native oysters when there’s an ‘r’ in the month, from September to April.
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Humans have built communities around natural oyster beds for many thousands of years and the passion for these molluscs has been passed down through the generations. Today our native oysters are once more in very good condition, as we now have a greater knowledge of their breeding and growth habits. Likewise considerable efforts have been made over the past 20 years to clean up Britain’s coastal waters.
These oysters take between 4-5 years to grow to a marketable size and are much more sensitive to their environment than the ‘rock’ oysters. They grow in deeper waters that are not exposed at low tides and hence have to be collected using a dredge towed behind a boat, traditionally an oyster smack. The dredge scoops the shells into a net bag that retains the oysters while leaving the sediment behind, this technique has remained practically untouched over the past century, with the size of the dredge being the only thing that has changed.
As with most shellfish, native oysters use the water temperature as an indicator of the season and as the water in the coastal estuaries warms up the oysters start to breed. With a large portion of their energy being used in the reproductive process the oysters loose weight during this period and become undesirable to eat. This accounts for the well know fact that you can only eat native oysters when there’s an ‘r’ in the month, from September to April.
BUY NOW