HAVSTENSSUNDS OYSTERS
Our farm is located near the village of Havstenssund in northern Bohuslän on the Swedish west-coast. This is an old centre for the oyster trade and during the 19th century large quantities of oysters were exported from here, until the 1980’s when the natural stock of was greatly reduced. Most of the oysters were sent to Stockholm, where oysters from Havstenssund were famous and served at all the best restaurants. Our ambition is to once again make Havstenssund a center for oyster production and export.
Twenty years ago, we started trialling different methods to farm our native oyster species, Ostrea edulis, also called “flat” oysters. Over the years we developed a technique where the whole process takes places naturally in the ocean. Havstenssunds Ostron is currently the only commercial oyster farm in Scandinavia. Every week throughout the season, which runs from September to May, we harvest fully grown oysters and deliver them to wholesalers, fishmongers, and directly to restaurants. For some years now, we have also been harvesting wild oysters, both the native flat oysters (Ostrea edulis) and the invasive Pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas). We also arrange events at our venue Södra Magasinet in Havstenssunds harbor and tours to our oyster farm.
ABOUT US
Mathias Svensson has been a commercial fisherman all his life and has worked as both crew and skipper on fishing boats around Scandinavia. Ulrika Lorensson grew up in a family of fishermen on an island in the southern archipelago of Göteborg. For many years she worked in the restaurant industry with a focus on seafood. As fishing became ever more limited, Mathias became interested in aquaculture. Over the years, he saw how the oysters at home became fewer, how eutrophication increased and fish stocks were depleted. This made him and Ulrika start thinking about environmentally friendly and sustainable ways of making a living from the ocean, and they started experimenting with different methods to collect oyster spats and grow them to full size. It took many years before an efficient and economically sustainable process had been developed, as well as getting all the permits required for aquaculture. Since 2017, both Mathias and Ulrika have been working full time with farming and harvesting oysters.
2018 – Tanum’s Municipality Marine Company of the Year
2019 – Winner of the Änglamarks Prize, which is awarded annually to companies that produce sustainable food in a environmentally friendly manner.
