fishermen have been promoting Fal oysters on an international stage thanks to help from the South West Rural Enterprise Gateway and Cornwall county council.

Truro Oyster Fishery Management Group is hoping to see increased exports to European countries after a recent visit to the major bi-annual Slow Food conference, Terra Madre in Italy, which draws over 6,500 participants from all over the world. The Slow Food organisation was founded in 1989 to counteract fast food and protect the diversity of food, tradition and culture.

In 2003, the oyster fishermen formed a group with local buyers and the fishery regulator, Carrick district council. The group manages the future of the fishery and has accessed support and funds from the SWREG project to help them market the product to wider audiences.

Evonne Amblin, of SWREG Fisheries said: "The work this group is doing is so important for the future of the Fal Oyster Fishery. At one point there were around 80 boats fishing on the Estuary, but in the 1980s disease caused stocks to plummet. The fishery is slowly recovering and currently there are about a dozen fishermen as supplies gradually increase.

Objective One Fisheries programme manager, Clare Leverton said: "Fal oysters are an exceptional product, distinctive to the region and of a very high quality.

"The fishing techniques couldn't be more sustainable - which is the buzz word in the food industry at the moment.

"I have helped the management group with Objective One Fisheries grants in the past two years and was really pleased to see them get the award from SWREG and Cornwall county council for this trip and the promotional work."

Ben Wright, owner of the Duchy of Cornwall Oyster Farm, Helford, said: "We already know that the product we're supplying is excellent but the oysters are a high value, low volume product and so we need to focus on a niche market. SWREG is helping us develop a specific focus for the sales and marketing to develop the reputation of Fal Oysters - at home and abroad."