Big bivalve Jack turns four this year and weighs in at nearly 2kg

A PROUD NSW farmer is giving the record books a shelluva nudge with an over-size oyster four years in the making.

Bernie Connell with the record-breaking Jack, facing the scales today at a foodie festival. Picture: Ben Eyles

A PROUD NSW farmer is giving the record books a shelluva nudge with an over-size oyster four years in the making.

And while the up-market mollusc might also make for a mighty aphrodisiac, third-generation Batemans Bay producer Bernie Connell is simply in love with the idea of bagging a Guinness World Record.

It’s currently held by a Danish Pacific oyster measuring 35.5cm long and 10.7cm wide with another five attached to it, in a king cluster weighing in at 1.62kg.

Tiali Griffiths, 20, faces a massive oyster — not Jack — and says she can handle only smaller ones. Picture: Ben Eyles

But Mr Connell reckons his prize Pacific oyster Jack has what it takes to knock that out of the ocean.

Jack turns four in September and his super stats have him at 25.4cm long, 12.7cm wide and 10.16cm deep, tipping the scales at a hefty 1.97kg — and that’s after he lost weight.

“Last week he weighed 2.7kg and since he’s been handled a bit in the last few days he’s down to 1.97kg,” Mr Connell said.

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“He hasn’t shrunk — he was probably very fat and spawned the eggs out.”

Today is judgment day, with Jack set to be sized up at the Narooma Oyster Festival as part of the record bid.

He’ll be weighed and measured and then put back in the water. But put the champagne back on ice because Jack is not for eating.

“I call him Jack because my great uncle was a tough man and this must be a tough oyster,” Mr Connell said.

“He’s like part of the family. I could never stick the knife in him — he might see me out.”

Restaurant oysters weigh between 100g-300g and are aged from nine months to three years.

Industry wisdom says that the longer and slower an oyster grows, the better the flavour. Picture: Ben Eyles

Sydney rock oysters can last up to nine years and Mr Connell knows of a Pacific oyster nudging 20, but it’s only 1.62kg.

He said the longer and slower an oyster grows, the better the flavour.

But Tiali Griffiths, 20, from nearby Surfside, wasn’t convinced.

“I see them big pretty often, but I’m not game enough to eat something that big,” she said.

“I can only eat smaller ones.

Originally published as Big bivalve Jack turns four this year and weighs in at nearly 2kg