THERE ARE plans to double Africa’s biggest oyster farm, which is situated in Algoa Bay in the lee of the Port Elizabeth harbour. The Knysna Oyster company’s Vernon Rice. He says the existing farm, which covers 27 hectares, is to be extended by 20 hectares. “We want to become a serious player in world terms,” he said at the launch of the second Graca Algoa Bay Oyster Festival. The company has built new nursery tanks in Port Elizabeth to increase production. Some 95 per cent of the more than 250 000 oysters sold locally and internationally by the Knysna Oyster Company are raised in Algoa Bay, according to the company’s Franco Rossouw. The Knysna Oyster Company, which is the biggest producer of cultivated oysters in South Africa, uses imported seed from Chile and France. Up to 1.5 million oysters at a time are raised in 27 hectares of Indian Ocean near the entrance to the Port Elizabeth harbour. Algoa Bay has proved to be a perfect place to raise oysters, according to Rice. The Graca Oyster Festival, which will be held at The Boardwalk Casino and Entertainment World on October 4 and 5, will also boost tourism, he says. “Oysters have become a major attraction in Knysna. Festivals raise the profile of a destination. We will do for Port Elizabeth what we did for Knysna,” he said.