A Clyde River oyster – a real pearler – may soon be listed in the Guinness Book of Records, after it is measured and weighed at the Narooma Oyster Festival, on Saturday.
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Oyster farmer Bernie Connell reckons he has a few oysters bigger than the current record.
“I’ve got a few that would weigh more than the world record and one is nudging 2kg,” Mr Connell said.
The current pearl of the oyster record crop was a pacific oyster, found on the Danish shores of the Wadden Sea in 2013: at 35.5 centimeters long and 10.7 wide, it was a cluster of five oysters aged 15-20years and weighed 1.62 kilograms.
Mr Connell’s specimens are all single oysters and only four-years-old: “If I do end up with the world champion, I won’t be selling it. I’ll keep it growing.”
He said other Clyde River oyster farmers would likely have oysters which could beat the world record. The contenders will be weighted and measured at festival’s Katungal Main Stage at 12.15pm on Saturday.
Festival chairman Niels Bendixsen said the event would be fun with several possible world-record contenders: “All pacific oyster from the Clyde River.”
Narooma’s Oyster Festival begins at 4.30pm on Friday, May 4, with a free family concert, a freestyle motocross display, and fireworks.
Saturday is a showcase day for oysters from eight South Coast estuaries; one of the world’s most environmentally sustainable oyster growing regions.
The celebrity chef cooking demonstrations run from 10am to 4pm on Saturday with other events including the Ultimate Oyster Experience, the oyster shucking competition, displays of Yuin culture and more than 70 stalls featuring local produce.
More information: naroomaoysterfestival.com or the festival’s Facebook page.
