Waterfront restaurant at Emu Point part of Twiggy’s tourism vision for Albany as oyster hub plans revealed

A waterfront restaurant and educational tourism facility could be on the cards within the next four years as part of Harvest Road’s $16 million aquaculture vision for Emu Point. Mining magnate Andrew Forrest made waves in Australia’s aquaculture industry in August, when he unveiled his new sustainable seafood brand, Leeuwin Coast, in Albany. The vision is centred on growing the global reach of the akoya species cultivated in the waters of Oyster Harbour. The City of Albany is calling for public comment on Harvest Road’s development application for a “marine/aquaculture facility for the processing of shellfish and associated car parking, and a future restaurant (tourism facility) building” on its 0.55ha land site at Emu Point. The “marine base” would include a processing building, nursery shed and a workshop within three separate buildings and at a later date would include a restaurant or tourism building. At full scale, the operation is expected to produce 45 million rock oysters, 35 million akoya and 1700 tonnes of mussels a year, while generating roles for about 88 staff, according to the application. Harvest Road general manager aquaculture Justin Welsh said the proposed development was for the long-term benefit of Albany’s aquaculture industry. If approved, Mr Welsh said the proposed $6 million land development would occur in three stages, with the scale-up earmarked for completion by 2024. “What we are building at Emu Point isn’t just to service our needs right now,” he said. “But it will be of an appropriate scale to service the levels of production we hope to achieve long into the future. “It’s important that we are really focused on this as a long-term play. We want to do it right.” The first stage of the proposal, aiming to be completed by June next year, would focus on “critical maintenance”, improving storage facilities for aquaculture gear, building a boat berthing platform and an oyster nursery. The nursery would help nurture enough oyster spat to meet Harvest Road’s preliminary goal of taking 18 million rock oysters to market annually.“The important thing to get right is to get this nursery up and running as soon as possible,” Dr Welsh said. “Getting the production going is central to our operation.” By 2023, Harvest Road hopes to complete works to streamline its shellfish-processing facilities to smoothly move oysters from boats to shore for grading, sorting and packing. The third and final stage of Harvest Road’s Emu Point vision is to develop its restaurant and “experience-based” tourism facility. According to the development application, the final stage would occur once the first two stages were “completed and fully functional and in operation”. “The future restaurant use and tourism facility will provide visitors to Emu Point the ability to enjoy a meal with a view of Oyster Harbour and experience how the shellfish are cultivated and harvested,” the application says. “This facility is targeting families, ‘foodies’ and people valuing authentic experiences focused on aquaculture. “There are currently few opportunities for experience-based tourism attractions offered in WA that focus on showcasing the harvesting of oysters fresh from the ocean, and on aquaculture operations generally. “The proposed facility will offer a unique interactive shellfish experience for visitors that can be hard to find elsewhere on the south coast of WA.” The facility would also provide a platform water-based tourism activities, such as visits to oyster leases, tours into Oyster Harbour and beyond, and “education opportunities associated with the aquaculture operations”. Mr Welsh said the facility would “champion and showcase all the wonderful products” pulled straight from Albany waters. “At the forefront, it has to be a place where people can learn about the sustainability of shellfish and aquaculture in general and some of the really unique elements of aquaculture in Albany,” he said. “Whatever it ends up looking like, it will certainly be some-where people can come and taste the akoya, rock oysters and mussels straight out of the water.” Mr Welsh said sustainability was at the heart of the designs. “We want the buildings to be indicative of the modern approach we are taking to the aquaculture industry with a bit of a nod to the pioneers and historic value of the users of oyster harbour,” he said. “I think the old Albany beach shacks were the inspiration behind the architect’s designs.” Harvest Road’s development application to the City of Albany is open for public comment until October 21.