Phil Vickery – Mersea Oysters
…..My fishing trip with Oysterman Allan Bird was an experience I’ll never forget. Allan has been fishing the Mersea waters since the 1960s, and is a much respected member of the fishing community on Mersea. It was fascinating to find out about the traditions of Oyster fishing, and how very little has changed in hundreds of years.
We were helped with on our trip by a number of local people who volunteered their time because they care passionately about the oysters and the fishing community. Oysterman William Baker lent us his boat, boat-builder Chris Dawson, who offers the public tours of the Mersea waters, lent us another boat for the crew, and Bev Perkins, who runs the Mersea Food Festival (www.mersea-fdl-festival.com), provided a huge amount of expertise and local knowledge – to all those people – we are extremely grateful! ….