Awards recognise the best in Scottish shellfish

The Scottish Shellfish Awards, held this week in Oban, recognised the best in farmed oyster and mussel production, including a new category for “cocktail oysters”.

The winners were selected by an expert panel of judges at the Association of Scottish Shellfish Growers conference.

In the Native Oyster category, the winner was Craig Archibald of Islay Oysters, with Gerard Macdonald, Isle of Barra Oysters, being highly commended.

The winner in the Gigas (rock oyster, or Pacific oyster) category was Swein Thomson of Orkney Oysters. Andy Abrahams of Colonsay Oysters was highly commended.

In the Mussels category, the winner was Douglas Wilson of Inverlussa Shellfish and Loch Fyne’s Hebridean Mussels were highly commended.

This year, the judges also opted to make an extra award to Tom Ashton of Native Aqua for his “cocktail oysters”, small native oysters grown offshore using an innovative approach.

Pictured are (from left) Tom Ashton; Swein Thomson; Lars Mack (Colonsay Oysters); Andre Hughes, Loch Fyne; Craig Archibald; Nick Lake, ASSG, representing Inverlussa Shellfish.

The judging panel was chaired by journalist and shellfish grower Nicki Holmyard and also included: Eleanor Adamson of the Fishmongers’ Company; Linda Wood, Aquaculture and Fisheries Manager, Marks & Spencer; Michael Leathley, Head Chef at the Pierhouse Hotel, Appin and David Jarrad, Chief Executive of the Shellfish Association of Great Britain.

Also at the conference, attendees heard updates on the shellfish industry in Scotland, the rest of the UK, France and Chile, and were brought up to date with progress on developing a reliable test for marine biotoxins.

A full report on the ASSG Conference will appear in the November issue of Fish Farmer.

Judges at the Scottish Shellfish Awards 2024: (from left) Eleanor Adamson, Linda Wood, Nicki Holmyard, Michael Leathley and David Jarrad