Bluff oyster season charges on after Ngāi Tahu pulls pin
21 MarchBluff Oyster check in
18 MarchWhat does it take to get big Bluff oysters on to the plate?
18 MarchHigh demand for Bluff oysters as season enters full swing
17 MarchFamily’s start to oyster season marked by 100-strong haul
03 MarchHope for ‘better start’ to oyster season
28 FebruaryRough oyster season coming to an end
30 AugustSeafood lovers travel to Bluff in their thousands
26 MayQueen of the oysters
23 MayGreat expectations for the 2024 Bluff oyster season
06 MarchThe world is our oyster… despite another tough season
14 SeptemberIt’s no Bluff, pricey oysters still in demand
24 MarchDredging for Bluff oyster gold in Foveaux Strait
13 MarchBluff oysters looking good as the season starts
06 MarchFirst day of Bluff oyster season offers promise of better haul than 2022
02 MarchOyster quality beyond expectations as season starts
02 MarchTough year for Bluff oyster season
20 AugustLarge tides, courier delays among obstacles at start of oyster season
03 MarchHopes for pearler as oyster season starts
02 MarchOyster season over but people still have a craving for more
16 AugustOver and out for oyster season
30 JulyCrowds welcome oyster festival’s return
24 MayOyster harvesters ‘battle life and limb’ for Bluff festival
21 MayStrong sales in first month of Bluff oyster season
08 AprilOysters back for ‘passionate’ Southland
03 MarchBluff oysters are on their way ... very soon
02 March03 March / Nina Tapu
A delayed start did not diminish the oyster haul for the crew of Iron Maiden.
Boat owners Strahan and Vicky McCallum, along with their son Harry and his partner Megan, set off from Bluff wharf at 8am on Saturday, lagging behind the commercial fleets and private boaties that had already left hours before.
Despite their late start to the first day of the Bluff oyster season, the oyster lovers managed to return with “one hundred pearls” from the sea.
“It was good first thing in the morning and then it got quite a bit choppy on the way home, but it’s been a good day,” skipper Strahan McCallum said.
“We got about 100 today then we had to come back in, but [these] are good size oysters and we probably [had] a bit better of a start than last year.
“We got quite a few per dredge load,” Mr McCallum said.
The Northern Southland family were no strangers to oystering, getting the boat out on the southern water at least seven or eight times during the Bluff oyster season.
The bucket of “sweet” bivalves was savoured by the Iron Maiden crew on Saturday night.
They enjoyed the shellfish with a bit of lemon and vinegar — “or just good ole raw”.
The oyster season officially began on Saturday and ends on August 31.
Barnes Wild Bluff Oysters general manager Graeme Wright said nine commercial boats went out on Saturday. He believed they each returned with 800-1000 dozen oysters.
The boats had a similar catch yesterday, he said.