The Oyster Province – Fabulous Native Oysters

The Oyster Province – Introduction

The Oyster Province was established by Yvonne Young and Steve Leslie at Taranna in south-east Tasmania and are one of the few oyster producers to grow the native Ostrea Angasi oysters in commercial quantities (Blue Lagoon at Boomer Bay are another).

Ostrea Angasi are a deep water species and therefore The Oyster Province raise their natives in deep water most of the time. As with other producers they do give the oysters some time in intertidal waters so that they are out of the water for short periods.

There are complex reasons why this process is practiced by oyster farmers relating to shell development and also the strength of muscles in the oysters themselves. This is also being complicated by the acidification of ocean waters as a result of increased CO2 in the atmosphere due to global warming. This has been proved by countless studies that have measured the lowering of ph of ocean waters, hence the increase in the acid present in the water.

But the simpler reason is that when they under the water all the time the oysters concentrate on building up their protection by putting their energy into shell creation, however when they are out of the water and can’t access the raw materials to build the shell, they concentrate on building up their meat instead.

We regularly enjoy their oysters at our favourite Tasmanian pub, namely Tom McHugo’s where the are often on the menu.

Yvonne and Steve post some excellent photos occasionally on their Facebook page.