A new world of oysters

Senior Feature Writer & Food Writer

Saturday 7 April 2012

The pale blues, greys, browns, greens and creams of the natural north Barra landscape are one of the things that make the rugged Outer Hebridean island truly a sight for sore eyes.

Custom byline text:

Cate Devine

Now, thanks to the efforts of one foodie entrepreneur, that fresh natural beauty has been captured – not in a painting or a poem, but in an oyster shell.

It's the first time Pacific oysters have been successfully grown here. Gerard MacDonald's company Isle of Barra Oysters has been in existence since May 2009, using seed from Morecambe Bay hatcheries, and already he's supplying 100,000 Pacific oysters annually to supermarkets Waitrose and Tesco through the Scottish Shellfish Marketing Group in Bellshill. But he plans to triple that figure to at least 300,000 by next year – and hopes to be able to supply top chefs directly so that the provenance of his oysters is highlighted on menus.

With a deadly herpes virus devastating oyster seed stocks in northern France, compounded by the 2011 Japanese tsunami all but wiping out seed sourced there, many of the world's top growers are now buying up the oyster seed stocks from Morecambe Bay. So the canny MacDonald – who studied zoology at Glasgow University and has a masters degree in agri-business management from the Scottish Agricultural College – is switching to Scotland's only Pacific oyster spat grower at Ardtoe, Argyll, and he hopes to become their main customer to meet increased international demand for clean Scottish-grown Pacific oysters (Crassotrea gigas). With his oysters feeding on fresh plankton produced amidst the famous cockle shell sand, their flavour as well as their provenance is unique. As very little of what you eat of an oyster is muscle, good feeding for the animal is essential. A former farm manager at Marine Harvest, the world's largest producer of farmed salmon, and also an aquaculture specialist at the Highland and Islands Development Board (now HIE), he knows a lot about the business, and was quick to spot a gap in the market. He says: "It was clear to me that there was a market for oysters but very few people growing them. It was something I knew I could do."One advantage of my site at Eoligarry is that it's remote from any possible contaminants. The waters are absolutely pristine, which means they don't have to be cleaned out to meet stringent supermarket demands. I get some passing trade even out here, and it's great to know that people can enjoy the oysters in as fresh a condition as possible."Being on a natural beach means that in good weather the sand warms up, helping the oysters to grow. I do train them to use their muscles in the final month before selling them on, so that they learn to hold their shells shut and so extend their shelf life. That way they stay good for at least a week."The 48-year-old sank his life savings into the project once he'd done a year-long trial to make sure the oysters would grow (unlike native oysters, Pacific oysters do not breed naturally in Scotland, though they take a shorter time to grow). MacDonald's other job as a community development officer for Castlebay and Vatersay helps keep him financially afloat for the time being. Significant capital was required for a tractor and for the material to make his French-style low-lying oyster trestles by hand, and to purchase the mesh bags for the seed to grow in. The trestles are designed to catch the tides and to elevate the oysters off the sand, so that the tide can flow on either side of them. But the location can present difficulties too. "We get strong winds up here and they can move the sand. If it gets caught in the legs of the trestles you get sandbanks, which can smother the oysters. It means constant vigilance. I lost a lot of stock during storms last Christmas and was absolutely gutted. So you live and learn."If production can be increased, Scottish oysters could become as sought-after as our langoustines and scallops – which are Scotland's top food exports, worth £648 billion last year.That's not as easy as it sounds, however.MacDonald, whose father is from Barra, explains: "It's a two-edged sword. People are buying all the seed oysters they can get, which means my main frustration is getting hold of seed. Now the French are buying from Morecambe by the tens of millions each year. I'm only looking for perhaps 500,000, so guess who they prefer to sell to?"He'd like to become Ardtoe's biggest customer in order to ensure consistency of supply. "The Scottish oyster market will only be secure when seed supply is secure," he says. "It's an underserved market. I'm already in the situation now where I could sell each month what I produce in a whole year." nContact thenamesgerard@gmail.com

Commenting & Moderation

We moderate all comments on HeraldScotland on either a pre-moderated or post-moderated basis. If you're a relatively new user then your comments will be reviewed before publication and if we know you well then your comments will be subject to moderation only if other users or the moderators believe you've broken the rules, which are available here.

Moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours. Please be patient if your posts are not approved instantly.

A new world of oysters

Commenting & Moderation

MOST READ

SPONSORED LINKS

MOST COMMENTED