Easter is potentially one of Shoalhaven’s busiest public holidays for oyster farmers, although about one in five is spoilt by rain.

Mr Allen and his brother Barry run one of Shoalhaven’s largest oyster businesses and are looking forward to being able to take advantage of their good timing with the weather and the oysters.

It takes three years to grow an oyster and before it can be harvested water quality levels have to be just right, and those levels can be affected by rain. The oysters also need to be at a point in their maturity just before spawning. 

“Easter is traditionally one of our biggest times, but we rarely get it in,” he said.

“We might be able to harvest maybe one Easter in five due to the rain we often get in April.

“However it’s been dry so we got away with it this time,” he said.

To top it off the Allen brothers have a stack of leftover oysters from Christmas that have been growing plumper every day.

“We have some beautiful and fat oysters at the moment. They’re extremely plump and of excellent quality,” he said.

“They’re four years old and some of the best we’ve had for a long time. They’re at their peak,” he said.

Mr Allen said they will be selling Sydney rock oysters from their Greenwell Point shop and supplying the Sydney Fish Market and the international market with Pacific oysters. 

FRESH FEAST: Claydon Manton and other staff at Nowra Fresh will open up 3000 dozen oysters for Easter.