Dunedin has finally been granted access to the South’s favourite seafood delicacy, after the lion’s share were gobbled up quickly by Southland.
Sunday marked the start of the Bluff oyster season, and with that came keen southerners itching to get their hands on a dozen.
Best Cafe received their first shipment for the season on Wednesday evening, and had been selling them by the plate-full.
Barnes Wild Bluff Oysters general manager Graeme Wright said there had not been big numbers of oysters yet, and most of those had been snaffled up by Southlanders.
‘‘The southerners are very, very keen on their Bluff oysters — demand is normal, as in it’s crazy.’’
His small store in Invercargill had been inundated.
‘‘It’s really hard to catch enough, get them in a poly and send them up [to Dunedin] … but we’re certainly sending to the boys at Harbour Fish and to Best Cafe.’’
Tradition dictated that local stores needed to be well-stocked before they shipped elsewhere.
So far, staff had not noticed any new sign of disease in oyster populations, which ended the season early last year.
There were plenty of juvenile oysters but there were few legal-sized adults in the ‘‘lag phase’’, he said.
Oceans and Fisheries under-secretary Jenny Marcroft said while 2026 was likely to be challenging, there were good numbers of new oysters beginning to grow.
‘‘Careful management will be required this season with issues such as disease and environmental pressures impacting oyster abundance and condition but there’s encouraging signs as well.’’