Oyster 2017
Distributed by Bullfrog Films, PO Box 149, Oley, PA 19547; 800-543-FROG (3764)
Produced by Pat Fiske
Directed by Kim Beamish
DVD, color, 80 mins
General Adult
Australia; Ecology; Ethnography; Fisheries; Marine Science; Oyster Farming
Date Entered: 11/15/2019
Reviewed by Bonnie Jo Dopp, Librarian Emerita, University of MarylandSomewhat too long, somewhat hard to understand for people who have never heard south Australian oyster farmer English (for them, the SDH captions in the DVD are essential), yet engagingly informative on its main subject: the lifestyle of a New South Wales second generation Sydney Rock oyster farming family. By following for a season how Dom and Pip Boynton deal with raising delicious edible oysters and two high-spirited boys, viewers learn how hard work mainly done by hand, cooperative community spirit, and readiness for emergencies caused by wicked weather, introduced Pacific oysters, sewage spills, and disease are all required for success.
Constant monitoring of water quality and temperature, monthly turning of the wire bags where the oysters grow to maturity over three years, sizing and grading the harvest (assisted by belts that loudly whirr and clank), taking orders for hundreds of dozens of oysters, bagging some for transport and shucking and packing some for immediate local feasting or freezing are all essential to the business.
Students of contemporary Australia will profit from this film. For a film on raising Pacific oysters in the US, go to Vimeo and watch the series of free films about oyster farmers at Willapa Bay, WA. Oyster farming on coastal NJ is covered by "The Oyster Farmers" (Green Planet Films). All these films stress the environmental good oysters do in estuaries (carbon sequestering, filtering water) and ongoing efforts to keep oyster farming a sustainable practice.
Awards
Winner, Best Environmental Feature Film, Chesapeake (Maryland) Film Festival, 2018