Ireland has a population of around 4.5 million which is significantly less than would be expected for a western European country of its size. Ireland therefore has little heavy industry and is an ideal location for farming oysters in the clean cold waters of the Atlantic.




Ireland is traditionally known as the land of 40 shades of green but also has unique ecosystems of turf bog stretching over 12,000km² and a limestone landscape formed over 340 million years ago.

 

Ireland has a long history with Oysters. The first trace of flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) fishing dates since the 13th Century. Strong demand and the decline of the wild flat oyster fishery stocks in the 20th Century lead to the introduction of the first gigas oysters, also known as cupped or pacific oysters (Crossostrea gigas) in the 1970s using French farming techniques. By 2008 gigas oyster production in Ireland reached 6,000 tonnes.