Colchester Native Oysters
Colchester Native Oysters are harvested from September through May in the shallow creeks off Mersea Island in Essex and north of the River Thames. The more prevalent Pacific gigas are harvested throughout the year. The shell of the Colchester Native Oyster is flat and the flesh is firm and often tinged with green, a historic mark of quality for the French. This application includes oysters relaid in the creeks for at least 6 months to give them the distinctive characteristics of creamy flesh together with a distinctive salty flavour. This taste/flavour must come from the marsh fringed environment in the creeks together with the fact that the Blackwater is the second most salty river in the country. The oysters who spatted in the river, are dredged up by small boats, which also cultivate the ground, and then relaid in the creeks to fatten before being dredged up by the same boats the next season.
According to seventh generation oysterman Richard Haward, "Oysters also taste of the water from where they come". The Colchester Oyster, however, is more fragile than the Pacific gigas and therefore more susceptible to changes in its environment. Stocks have consequently suffered from periodic depletion, of which pesticide run-off from farmland is a significant factor. Currently, the oystermen believe that global warming and the rising temperatures of the creek beds may turn out to be the greatest threat yet. As recently as 2003, the future of the oysters has been threatened by the necessary, yet controversial, work undertaken by the Environment Agency to restore nearby marshlands.
Area of production:
Mersea Island in Essex and north of the River Thames
Contact:
Richard Haward, www.richardhawardsoysters.co.uk
