First mention of the commercial exploitation of oysters in Coffin Bay appear in an extract from a letter dated 23 May 1848 and written by “One of the Adventurers”on a voyage onboard the Emma Sherra from Port Adelaide to Port Lincoln and Kangaroo Island. It is widely believed in the year 1849 there were up to thirty cutters dredging native oysters in the bays near Kellidie Bay. The settlement soon became known as Oyster Town. This small town was established rather quickly, around 1849, and huts were constructed for the fisherman’s families who brought various animals and other necessities needed for a town to survive.

Regretfully,as a result of over fishing, the oyster fishery faced an official closure for seven out of nine years between 1882 and 1891, which provides a likely end date to this semi-permanent small settlement. It is unclear why this native oyster has never recovered and finding a live native oyster has become a rarity. Some marine biologists suggest a probable cause is that the fisherman would not have returned their dead oyster shells to the sea, as they would only dredge them up next time, and they would probably have discarded them on shore. In natural events, dead shells on the ocean floor would provide a solid surface for young oyster spat to attach and grow. In addition to this, spat passing through the dredge would likely have been covered and smothered in dredge silt. These two issues could have contributed to the sudden decline in the native oyster population.

In the late 1960’s the first Pacific oyster was imported from Japan via hatcheries in Tasmania to Coffin Bay and this has since spawned a flourishing industry worth many millions of dollars to the State’s economy. Today Coffin Bay’s (Pacific)oysters are known nationally and internationally for their excellence,providing testament to the quality of the environment and habitat of the native Oyster of yesteryear.

Cultured in some of the cleanest, most unpolluted waters in the world, Eyre Peninsula‘Pacific Oysters’ have a creamy appearance, fresh ocean flavor and unique‘cupped’ shell filled with juicy, plump meat.

They are produced in six main growing areas – Coffin Bay, Cowell, Streaky Bay, Smoky Bay, Denial Bay and St Peter’s Island, with each area producing an oyster with a distinctive taste. All have low coastal populations and minimal rainfall, greatly reduce the risk of pollutants entering the waters and ensuring a pristine environment.

Internationally recognized for their quality, flavor and size, Coffin Bay is South Australia’s most famous oyster growing location. This is largely because the waterways surrounding Coffin Bay are constantly being nourished from the nutrient-rich seawater and up welling from the Southern Ocean.

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