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Osamu and Chisako Onoguchi were so impressed
with the pristine waters of Point Longnose in Coffin Bay that South
Australian oysters should now hold a prime spot on their menu.
"It's very good, very clean and there are
not many people here," Mr Onoguchi said in between sampling the fresh
Pacific oysters directly from grower Brendon Guidera's lease.
The lease is one of the most successful
in South Australian waters with Mr Guidera's produce winning a gold
medal in Pacific oyster division at the Royal Sydney Fine Food Show in
February.
Australia’s current oyster production
consists of the AUD 28 million Sydney rock oyster industry in New South
Wales, followed by Pacific oyster industries in Tasmania and South
Australia, each worth about AUD 14 million.
Out on the lease at Coffin Bay, the real
advantage of the site can be seen in the rushing current bringing
Southern Ocean water, rich with nutrients, through the narrow mouth of
the bay directly past the oyster leases.
And with restaurateurs and fish sellers
such as the Onoguchis searching the world for a clean, unpolluted
shellfish, oyster exports from the South Australia for the first time
are expected to exceed AUD 1 million.
The value of the export market is being
reflected in lease prices as one-hectare parcels in the prime Coffin Bay
growing area were recently trading for well over AUD 100,000.
The Onoguchis visited the lease on Friday
courtesy of OYSA,
the company that represents and markets oysters for 60 per cent of the
State's oyster growers.
OYSA exports had jumped from about AUD
150,000 three years ago to what was expected to be more than AUD 1
million this year, which compared to total domestic sales of about AUD 7
million last year.
Manager Ted Pettafor said OYSA had just
finalised a deal with Japanese buyer
Godak for
an order of 50,000 dozen frozen on the half shell, a deal worth AUD
500,000 and that will fill three 40-foot containers.
The company also wants to purchase fresh,
whole oysters, and it is these fresh and frozen shellfish that will end
up in the Onoguchi's restaurant.
"Word of mouth plays a big part," Mr
Pettafor said.
"The Onoguchis will be back in Tokyo
today with photographs, memories, samples and even packaging.
"They will be some of our best
disciples."
Regular shipments were now also being
made to Singapore, Hong Kong and Indonesia, with exports also going to
other countries from Malaysia to England.
In other developments, OYSA in
partnership with
Flinders University was embarking on a three-year project to study
how best to move oysters from area to area to take advantage of the best
nutrients.
The research would look at a range of
options from fattening oysters in tanks to taking advantage of a
naturally occurring algae that creates highly prized green oysters or
'Fin de Claires'.
The Onoguchis said the humble oyster
still had a bad reputation in Japan, so much so that restaurateurs held
back from opening more than one restaurant because if one outlet closes
due to a food scare, so do all the other outlets.
Even the traditional Sydney rock oyster
from Australia’s East Coast did not have a good reputation.
Through an interpreter Mrs Onoguchi said
with a reliable source of clean oysters, owners could now consider
opening multiple restaurants.
 FIS.com |
