Narooma Oyster Festival's shucking competition is always thrilling because it is such a tight finish.
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There is a reason why.
The oysters are hand-selected to be the easiest to shuck and their uniform size and shape mean the competition comes down to speed and skill.
Luck with their allocated oysters is not a factor because they are all opening the same oysters.
Only Australia has oysters specifically grown and hand chosen for the national oyster opening championships.
The organisation behind it is Australia's Oyster Coast (AOC) in Batemans Bay.
It has been donating the oysters for the competition since 2019 and had the idea of making the oysters consistent.
Tending to the cream of the crop
Evan Davey, AOC's operations manager, explained the painstaking process.
It starts with AOC's oyster farmers in Merimbula, Wapengo, Shoalhaven, Wallis Lake and Narooma knowing their estuaries very well and understanding the tides and estuary's flow of water.
Over the oysters' life span the famers regularly and diligently visit the cream of their crop.
They bring the oysters back to cull any barnacles, oysters and other matter that may be on them.
"The bagged oysters are then put in the correct places in the estuary, moving with the tides, which creates the amazing round shape and deep cup," Mr Davey said.
Hand-selected and graded
As the festival approaches, AOC's farmers send the cream of their crop to AOC's Batemans Bay facility where staff hand select them.
They assess the oysters on several aspects including their aesthetic appeal, shape and cup depth.
They examine the oyster meat and its size relative to the shell so that it is plump and full.
They measure the oyster's condition by how translucent and creamy it is.
The all-important taste test follows.
"Once we check all those criteria, we give them a score," Mr Davey said.
"We put forward the highest scoring oysters on taste, shape, size and condition to the shucking competition."
Appreciated by the shuckers
Depending on how many enter the competition, each year 25 to 50 dozen premium-grade oysters are hand selected two days beforehand and reserved exclusively for the championships.
Mr Davey said the majority of entrants are in the oyster industry and have high standards.
"The harder the farmers work on their oysters, the easier they are to shuck.
"The more uniform they are and with the hinge in the same place, it is a lot easier.
"It is the only way to make it a fair competition," Mr Davey said.
