BST Oyster Supplies

Project Profile

Issues

BST Oyster Supplies has developed an innovative oyster farming system which is recognised world-wide as an example of best practice oyster farming and has added to the positive growth of Cowell as well as the development of the aquaculture industry.

Project Detail

Cowell’s BST Oyster Supplies has been nominated for a National Landcare Award for its now world renown innovative oyster farming system.

BST Oyster Supplies has developed and marketed a range of products that suit a new system of growing oysters.

Realising the need for a better way to grow oysters, Franklin Harbour’s oyster farmers began researching other methods for farming oysters with reduced environmental impacts and OH&S risks.  The BST Adjustable Longline Oyster Farming System was developed, produced and commercialised by three local oyster growers to suit the rough and weedy conditions in Franklin Harbour. The system is now recognised world-wide as an example of best practice oyster farming and has added to the positive growth of Cowell as well as the development of the aquaculture industry.

This locally developed system fosters significant change in the oyster industry, increasing productivity and sustainability by introducing a cost effective, more efficient approach to managing and producing oysters. Designed to protect and preserve the fragile marine and coastal environments and produce wholesome food for future generations, the system creates significant and measurable improvements to the seabed and the overall natural resource.

The BST Adjustable Longline Oyster Farming System also helps to improve oyster growth and quality compared to standard oyster farming techniques.  Oysters have grown rapidly in the new system and are expected to reach market size in half the time that it would take in other systems.

The success of the system is based on the ability to raise and lower the oyster baskets on the line, giving the oyster farmer a technique to control shell growth and condition and clean. The construction of the system is versatile, cheaper and less labour intensive traditional methods with lower maintenance costs and higher yields.

BST Oyster Supplies is one of 88 finalists in the National Landcare Awards to be announced in Canberra on 24 June 2010. Commencing in 1991, the Awards celebrate the achievements of individuals and groups that make a valuable contribution to the land and coast where they live and work.

Photography

BST Oyster Supplies