Stewardship of the Estuary

Oysters are quite possibly the only farmed animal that are environmentally benign or even restorative. This is because oysters are filter-feeders. They filter the water they are grown in to extract phytoplankton and recycle organic matter to grow their shells and for food.

When you consider that one oyster can filter about 150 litres of water a day you can clearly understand the dichotomous relationship between the oyster and the estuary.

Other ecosystem services oysters provide include water quality maintenance and assessment, shoreline protection and sediment stabilisation. Oysters can even filter out enough phytoplankton to bring sunlight deeper into the water column, allowing more plants to grow and thereby creating a habitat for other organisms to thrive.

Our farmers’ feel a sense of stewardship over protecting our estuarine environment and are active members on a number of NSW shellfish water quality management boards.

So as much as the estuary is good for the oysters, the oysters are good for the estuary.