Cowell Oysters: Ron check out this taste sensation on the Eyre Peninsula in the West Coast region of South Australia

For years the sailing ketches called into the Cowell jetty to pick up bagged wheat and barley grown on the fields of Eyre Peninsula. Now the very same blokes who farmed the interior are harvesting crops from the acres and acres of blue water that make up Franklin Harbour.

"The bay consists of 5,000 hectares so it's a fair sized farm," said Geoff Turner of Turner Aquaculture. "It unique because it's completely encircled with mangroves." The mangroves provide the perfect buffer for the rows and rows of oyster leases that are relatively recent additions to the bay. Geoff Turner and his wife Janet were some of the first to convert from farming the hills to farming the sea.

"Believe it or not we experimented with oysters 20 miles inland on our own farm on a creek that happened to go salty in 1987," explained Geoff. "As most oyster farmers will tell you they get bitten by a bug and that bug bit us on the farm."

It's a bug that has certainly caught on with Franklin Harbour now supporting 112 hectares of oyster leases. SA produces about 70 million oysters annually - 20 million of them here.

It's become so popular in Franklin Harbour that the local school kids manage one of the leases. Come work experience, the kids from Cowell Area School should make a bee-line for Geoff Turner's lease because he's one of the best in the business. With the help of a couple of mates he has developed the adjustable long line system which has been exported around the world.

"We can't grow enough oysters to meet world demand," said Geoff. In the showroom in Cowell we found Janet schucking another mountain of oysters straight from the harbour. "My offsider Shaz and I can do about thirty dozen in an hour," she boasted.

There's more than enough oysters to feed the other main attraction at this key location on the State's Seafood and Aquaculture Trail - a huge fish tank. It's filled with a variety of fish from the bay, including a couple of Port Jackson sharks.

The tank is a real hit with the kids - not to mention envious fishermen who spend their times out trying to catch something similar. If they don't have any luck they can always call in a buy a dozen oysters. By the way, Janet has her own favourite recipe - sour cream, a bit of smoked salmon and a few chopped chives.

Turner Aquaculture is on Oyster Drive in Cowell. Of course! The Showroom is open daily.

Turner Aquaculture
Lot 21 Oyster Drive
Cowell
Showroom Open Daily

Published 16th July 2006