ROB Moxham of Broken Bay Oysters has won this year’s Slow Food award for Biodiversity and Heritage at the recent Australian Producers’ Awards 2010, hosted by the ABC’s Delicious magazine. Instead of being discouraged by the devastation that followed the outbreak of QX disease in 2004 in the Sydney rock oyster population, Rob has worked for the revival of successful farming at Broken Bay near Sydney. Of the 28 oyster growers in what was the state’s third largest oyster producing area, the number of producers dropped to two. Local council and NSW government funding of $3 million went into a clean-up programme. New farming technology was used and QX-resistant Sydney rock oyster spat was brought in to grow in fine meshed ‘socks’. See full list of the recent Producers’ Awards and an article in Ocean Watch about oysters in the Hawkesbury River.