Native Oysters

Our native or flat oysters (Oystera edulis) are gathered from the River Fal oyster fishery.

This well-known fishery is the most sustainable oyster fishery in England. It is the last oyster fishery in Europe using only sailing and rowing boats to harvest oysters. The oysters in the river Fal estuary have been harvested in this same highly sustainable way for more than 500 years. Byelaws protect the beds from over-exploitation by limiting harvesting to non-mechanical means. Many of the historic vessels working this fishery have been in use for more than 100 years. For example, one of the dredgers who supplies us is Frank Vinnicombe, who at 86 is the oldest oyster fisherman still working, sailing the ‘Shadow’ built at Restonguet on the Fal in 1894 for £30.

When working, the boats drag two or four small dredges. These dredges have changed little over the last 500 years. They are about three feet wide, with an iron top and bottom bar. They are pulled across the riverbed and hauled by hand over the side of the boat. The contents are tipped out and the oysters sorted from the stones, weed and shells. Any oyster that is smaller than the statutory 2⅝ inches in diameter is returned to the riverbed to grow on. Fishing is limited from 9 am to 3 pm each weekday, and from 9 am to 1 pm on Saturdays, from October 1 to March 31.

Why then is this fishery thriving, when so many of the other native oyster fisheries are not? It’s probably because of its inherent inefficiency, and reliance on traditional methods that prevent motorised vessels towing large dredges from clearing the seabed of all shellfish and destroying the habitat for future generations of oyster.