Celebrating shellfish culture

More than 150 shellfish growers spanning the globe gathered in Oban to celebrate their culture and industry.

Winners of Scotland’s best mussel, gigas oyster and native oyster competitions were announced and a cheque of more than £650 was presented to Oban lifeboat crew.

Craig Archibald of Islay Oysters took first prize home for his best Gigas oysters, Judith Vajk of Caledonian Oysters was runner-up.

Judith and son Angus also won first prize for best native oysters with John Barrington of Creran Oysters taking second place.

Best mussels was won by Douglas Wilson of Inverlussa Shellfish with Loch Fyne’s Hebridean Mussels in second position.

The competitions, with shellfish  judged on taste, appearance and presentation, were supported by supported by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and  the winners were announced at a gala dinner  in the Oban Waterfront Fishouse Restaurant.

The two-day event at Oban’s Corran Halls offered a packed programme of presentations and discussion.

After a welcome from the Association of Scottish Shellfish Growers’s (ASSG) CEO Dr Nick Lake, delegates heard from a panel of expert speakers about the policy and science support available for the sector, and the social and financial investment needed to secure a profitable future, and  how the shellfish industry delivers valuable environmental solutions to climate change.

The industry’s need for modernised legislation and for more affordable and public sector testing labs was also highlighted.

One of the guest speakers flew in from Australia,  Carmel MacDougall, lecturer at the Scottish Oceans Institute at St Andrews University looked at current research topics based on practical  knowledge of what has helped the Australian industry.

And there were more than 30 students from The Scottish Association for Marine Science at Dunstaffnage at the conference

Dr Lake said: “It’s great to see so many young people at the conference this year. We need them to join our shellfish community and be part of our future.”

Receiving ASSG’s cheque, Oban’s full-time coxswain, Ally Cerexhe said: “We very much appreciate this donation. We have given help when needed by shellfish growers in the past so it was good to be here  on a non-emergency occasion. Oban is getting its new boat soon and I’m sure their donation will be put to good use by the RNLI. The crew will need training to get sea-ready for the new vessel.”