Oysters Tasmania officially launched

Oysters Tasmania was officially launched at shellfish futures 2009 by the Tasmanian Minister for Primary Industries and Water, the Hon. David Llewellyn, who also brought the event to a formal close for another year. Minister Llewellyn spoke of his keen interest in the growth of the Tasmanian oyster industry and welcomed the formation of Oysters Tasmania, praising industry on the successful deployment of this new initiative.

It wasn't all work . . .

The launch of Oysters Tasmania by Minister Llewellyn and the closing of the conference were followed by a gathering at Freycinet Lodge on the Saturday night for the shellfish futures Annual Dinner and Grand Auction of goods kindly donated by many of our conference sponsors – which attracted enthusiastic bidding.

The future for 'shellfish futures'

The ever increasing support from industry for the 2009 conference and positive feedback from participants and the conference speakers augers well for the continuation of shellfish futures, with shellfish futures 2010 scheduled to be held in St Helens.

An exciting international development is also taking shape. Oysters Tasmania was pleased to host Dr Katsuyoshi Mori (President of the World Oyster Society and Professor Emeritus, Tohoku University, Japan) during shellfish futures 2009. Professor Mori visited Tasmania prior to chairing the 3rd International Oyster Symposium (IOS3) being held in Taipei, Taiwan in early November.

Professor Mori attended shellfish futures with an eye to holding a joint IOS4-shellfish futures in 2011. We are thrilled to announce that this was endorsed by the WOS steering committee in November, and marks the first foray of the IOS outside of Japan and China. This is an exciting opportunity to showcase the Australian oyster industry and shellfish futures to a world audience. Plans are already afoot!

Tom Lewis has been elected to the WOS steering committee and will chair the joint symposium committee. Watch out for calls for ideas and assistance.