With the native oyster season in full swing now and the chance for many of use who’s passion involves a regular saline smack around the chops, this time of year is perfect. Shellfish generally are at their most delicious abundance and in top condition, cooling waters mean the dissipation of summer blooms and a return to life-enhancing planktonic growth.

The Pacific oyster (Crassotera gigas) has been part of Suffolk Oysterman, Bill Pinney’s life since 1958. Reintroduced to the historic oyster-nurturing beds of the sublimely beautiful Butley Creek, by his father, Bill carries on a local tradition in that spot that stretches back over 100 years before the Second World War.

Mike Warner spent a morning afloat on the Butley River, where Bill has tended his ‘oyster flock’ for the last 40-odd years. A master of his craft, the oysters he produces are not only sold into Suffolk restaurants, hotels pubs, but travel countrywide. They have also started to appear in the local East Anglian Cooperatve outlets in recyclable wooden trays of a half-dozen and at an extremely attractive price, affording the chance for shoppers, who wouldn’t normally have access to these delicious bivalves, to sample a local, traceable and ethically produced product with a fascinating regional provenance.

Oyster farming is an art. It’s something learned and imbibed over years of hard graft, season-watching and intuition.