Our Oyster Farm
Grown on beds with Protected Geographical Indicator (PGI) status, Whitstable oysters are unique for both their provenance and quality.
Pacific Rock Oysters
Pacific rock oysters (Crassostrea gigas) are purchased as seed and then put into 4mm mesh bags and placed on top of the metal trestles on the farm that can be seen off Whitstable at Low tide. These are then graded several times until they are marketable size. The oysters are then brought in for a final grading before being purified in our depuration system at the East Quay and then on to market. This whole parcels takes between 18month to 2 years. This type of extensive oyster aquaculture is widely seen as one of the most sustainable ways of producing animal protein.
We are now trailing the use of oyster baskets that have been developed in Australia. These will be used to develop good shape of oyster in their early stages and ensure that they all feed evenly.
We may have up to 25,000 bags of oysters on the farm at any one time and to keep track of the stock we use an oyster app to show stock levels and maintenance tasks.
