The Name Drake Has Been Synonymous with the NSW Oyster Industry Since 1876

Bob Drake

The name Drake has been synonymous with the NSW oyster industry since 1876.

And it’s now brothers Bob, Len and Ted Drake, fourth generation oyster farmers, who are respected as the old hands of Sydney’s renowned GeorgesRiver.

NATSOT

Bob Drake has been oyster farming all his life, after leaving school at 14 to work with his father on the family leases in the Georges River, the largest and oldest Sydney Rock oyster fishery.

Oyster farming is in his blood.

But it hasn’t all been smooth sailing.

In 1995, an oyster disease that only affects the iconic Sydney rock oyster which is known as QX disease all but wiped out the 50 or so oyster farms in the River.

Only one survived.

20.17 The farmers were leaving, it was a horrible time for me, all the younger people in the area with children at university and school, and with mortgages, had a terrible time. We were all trained oyster farmers, without any degrees to anywhere else and I feel it was a horrible time. I was President of the oyster farmers in the river at that time, and to me, it was a devastating situation. 20.40

The foundation stone of NSW's largest aquaculture industry – a $40 million dollar a year industry – was in trouble.

But the Drake’s weren’t ready to give up their dynasty just yet.

Bob’sclose contacts in the industry along the coast kept him supplied with rough oysters to keep him going during the tough times.

He just wouldn’t give up - he applied to the NSW Government to get permission to grow Pacific oysters in Botany Bay. The answer was yes. He now had an oyster that was resistant to QX to grow, even if it was not his beloved Sydney rock oyster.

The trickle of funds coming into the business from their rough oysters and Pacific oysters, enabled them to keep their heads above water.

During this time they worked closely with researchers from Industry & Investment NSW to come up with a solution to the seasonal parasite which attacks the Sydney Rock Oyster every year.

All this persistence eventually paid off, and finally, a faster growing, beautifully shaped, disease resistant Sydney rock oyster was literally born in a local temporary Industry & Investment NSW oyster hatchery

21.24 I worked with those guys right through from 94, right through – and I knew that eventually we would come up with an answer to the problem. Well, I hoped we would, and by about 2002/2003 we had enough confidence to start serious oyster farming again. 21.41

Slowly but confidently, Drake’s Endeavour oysters was rebuilt.

They employed a number a trainees and got to work establishing 10 hectares of oyster leases, up and down the George’s River, producing about half a million Sydney Rock and Pacific oysters annually.

But as the types of oysters they farmed changed, so too did the technology.

You had to farm smarter.

Gone were the thousands of traditional wooden tarred sticks which caught the wild oyster spat every year, and the back-breaking labour that accompanied it.

In its place – new environmentally friendly technology, plastic trays to house the new disease resistant Sydney rock oysters,100’s of thousands of which are now delivered in small mesh bags from oyster hatcheries.

These baby oysters, or spat as they are called, are nursed in the Drake’s shed til they are big enoughto be taken out to grow in the trays in the picturesque estuary.

The Drakes now predominantly farm the QX resistant Sydney rock oyster.

And that suits Bob just fine.

22.51 It’s been a total turnaround and as far as it goes at my age and stage, I wouldn’t be doing it, I wouldn’t physically be able to do it and carry on doing it in the manner that we used to do it. 23.03

The Drake’s are desperately trying to bring people back to the George’s River.

They say it’s never been in better shape.

Under the guidance of the NSW Food Authority, oyster farmers regularly and routinely test the water and the oysters as part of the Shellfish Quality Assurance Program.

27.23 And it’s just great to know that the monitoring we are doing is ticking the box that shows that the river and the bay are in absolute beaut condition. There are people swimming in it regularly, there’s fish being caught…it’s nice to be contributing to a situation where we’ve got total confidence and assurance that this is happening, that the future is food for the oyster industry. 27.50

Bob doesn’t know how much longer he’ll keep oyster farming for, but at the moment, he just can’t walk away.

Oyster Farming on the George’s River is his life. And he loves it.

Even if he is a little bit lonely.

27.51 When I first started representing the oyster industry I had this vague idea that I wanted to leave the oyster industry in better shape than when I found it. Now, at this particular stage there are only my brothers and I farming. The other 50 or so other farmers have gone – but the river is in great nick and I think it’s a perfect opportunity for other farmers to now join us and I’d like to see some of the other guys farming. It is more simple and gratifying than it ever was and it would be nice to someone else here with us. 28.21

And it seems Bob may have just got his wish, with Industry & Investment NSW recently receiving applications from investors to take up 13 oyster leases on the GeorgesRiver over ground previously used for oyster farming. This would put more than 58 hectares back into production, reinvigorating this iconic oyster production estuary.