Our Native Oysters

We currently get our native oysters from two well respected high quality suppliers.

We get our west Mersea Oysters from the Haward family who have been growing oysters in the shallow creeks leading from the river Blackwater to the west of Mersea Island, Essex since 1792 when William Haward sailed to deliver oysters to Billingsgate Market.

The Rossmore Oysters are sourced from Loch Ryan oyster farm owned in partnership by the Wallace and Hugh-Jones families – The Wallace family were originally given the rights to farm oysters here in 1701 by King William III.

Why should we care?

The native oyster needs careful conservation to safeguard its future and help return populations to favorable condition. To help achieve this goal, the native oyster species action plan has been prepared as part of the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. The native oyster Species Action Plan is heavily influenced by the fact that oysters have been fished and cultivated for many years. Therefore, the Plan seeks not just to protect the native oysters from extinction, but to restore populations to sustainable levels.
It is for this reason that we here at English’s will always source our oysters and indeed all our products from accredited well respected suppliers.