We are an oyster farm
Welcome to the Fishery
Nestled on the edge of Pyefleet Creek, the Colchester Oyster Fishery have been supplying the finest seafood since 1966. However our oyster beds have been in use since Roman times, when Colchester was the capital of Britain, we are just the latest in a long line of oyster farmers.
The rights to the river were first granted to the people of Colchester in 1189 by King Richard I, the Crown own most of the rivers in the UK, so this alone makes us quite unusual. There has been an oyster fishery in the river ever since, the name has changed throughout the years, but the oyster beds remain the same,
The modern day Colchester Oyster Fishery owned at the time by Christopher Kerrison, took over the lease to the river in 1964 and began selling oysters to restaurants and wholesale markets. Christopher passed away in 2021 and the Fishery is now in the hands of his widow Catherine Kerrison with Paul Harding as MD.
location, location, location
Pyefleet Creek, East Mersea
The Fishery is based on Mersea Island, just south of Colchester, Essex. We are in the East of the Island and overlook the Pyefleet Creek, surrounded by unspoilt salt marshes, where the water is refreshed each tide from the North Sea. Our location is important, as it is these salt marshes and the nutrients in the water that give our oysters their unique flavour.
Our oyster beds are in Pyefleet Creek, River Colne where the oysters lay on the river bed not in cages or nets so they have plenty of room to grow. We leave oysters on the beds to provide a natural spat fall to keep the beds stocked for years to come. We also buy oyster seed to grow on in our oyster nursery to supplement the natural oyster spat. The oyster seed is kept in bags in floating rafts until it is large enough to lay on the ground and too big for predators to eat.
We are regenerating our native oyster beds and the cultivation of the native oyster spat, which means at the moment we are leaving most of our native oysters in the river. Hopefully, they will start to increase in numbers until there are enough for us to start harvesting them for sale.
Colchester Oyster Fishery
Nestled on the edge of Pyefleet Creek, the Colchester Oyster Fishery has been supplying the finest seafood since 1966. However, our oyster beds have been in use since Roman times, when Colchester was the capital of Britain.
01206 384141
Pyefleet Quay, East Road, East Mersea, Colchester, Essex. CO5 8UN