We normally have to chill the water to maintain our target temeperature, yet for the first time in years we have heaters in the water. It is still too cold to purify the oysters and as soon as the mussel systems can maintain their temperature we will move the heaters into the oyster tank. The oysters need a higher temperature than mussels, so it was decided to keep the mussels going at the expense of the oysters. Sorry.
Orders are a little lower than normal, as people stay in rather than go out. On the negative side that is less income, on the positive it is less hours working on the beach in the cold. Although to be fair once togged up in the waterproof clothing and getting stuck into the work you don't notice the cold. Its also a hell of a way to lose that extra christmas poundage.

March 2010

March is turning out to be a busy month.We are at the moment gearing up to supply Waitrose, who are opening a new store in Menai Bridge at the end of the month. There is more paperwork as we move toward SALSA accreditation in order to supply more customers.We also hope to return to supplying oysters by mid March as the temperature finally allows us to maintain our tanks at the correct operating temeperature.
March is a month that heralds the start of the growing season for us. Also with daylight lasting longer the work on the beach becomes a bit easier. We will soon be thinning the stocks with the boat to allow room for the expected growth as well as looking to acquire more oysters to replenish stocks.

June 2010

Our packing area is now transformed, as well as our documentation, in preparation for our SALSA accredition review taking place next week. This means we should be one step closer to supplying Waitrose. All this preparation has delayed the launching of the boat, but that to will be on the water by the end of the second week. All the shellfish are now growing rapidly and the amount of work is increasing in keeping on top of the growth. Restocking with oysters is a couple of weeks away and the juvenile mussels require a much needed thinning down to improve their growth. At least the weather thus far has been pretty good.


July 2010

After the SALSA inspection (we are provisionally approved now) there are still a number of modifications required to our packout area. These are ongoing and should be complete within a couple of weeks. The boat is out on the water and the seed beds are open , although there is not a great deal out there. After the run of fantastic weather the wind speed has increased a bit making the trips out for seed in the boat impossible. The rough seas make it very difficult to keep the dredge on the bottom, therefore it doesn't fill. We are still liasing with Waitrose to meet their food technical requirements but we are moving forward. They are inspecting next week so hopefully all will go well.
Had the Waitrose inspection, now we wait for the report....