DISCOVER THE ART AND SCIENCE OF SHETLAND OYSTER, WHERE PATIENCE AND PRECISION COMBINE TO CULTIVATE SOME OF THE OCEAN’S FINEST DELICACIES.
From seed sourcing to growth monitoring, we carefully manage every oyster farming stage to ensure exceptional quality and sustainability.
Learn how we nurture our oysters from seed to maturity, resulting in oysters with the finest flavour.
Oyster seed (approximately 8-10mm – 0.2g) is sourced from hatcheries in Morecambe Bay and Guernsey. They are placed in 6mm mesh bags, approximately 3000 per bag. The oyster bags sit on steel trestles placed in the intertidal zone, which helps the shell muscles to develop as they close with the tide.
The oysters need to be graded and transferred into clean oyster bags approximately three times per year. This ensures even growth and maintains water flow. Previously done by hand, we have now designed a machine that grades the oysters according to their size.
When the oysters are ready for market they go through a depuration process, which cycles water through a UV filter to purify the oyster and remove any possible germs. The process takes 42 hours, during which the temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen and water flow are strictly controlled.
The oysters are ready for export to restaurants in Shetland, across the UK mainland and beyond. Chilled to below six degrees, the oysters close up and hibernate, providing a shelf life of seven days from packing.
The native oyster is the subject of a UK Biodiversity Action Plan, the Native Oyster Species Action Plan (NOSAP). Our goal is to develop a method to establish a brood stock of native oysters and collect spatfall for possible future regeneration projects.
We plan to supply broodstock late 2024/25 to a hatchery on the West Coast of Scotland who are keen to use our native oysters for future regeneration projects. We are extremely keen to hear from organisations interested in native oyster conservation.
“We take great pride in our premium-quality oysters which are celebrated by our customers for their exquisite flavour, texture and freshness.”
Winston Brown