Gerard ‘Doody’ Dennis competing at Narooma Oyster Festival’s Oyster Shucking Championships in May. Photo: Narooma Rocks.
Gerard ‘Doody’ Dennis will return to Ireland in September to compete in the World Oyster Opening Championship. Last year Doody became the first First Nations Australian to enter the competition.
Once again, he will be the only representative from the Southern Hemisphere. The competition, held in Galway, on Ireland’s west coast, has been described by The Sunday Times as “one of the 12 greatest shows on Earth”.
Doody grew up on Gamilaroi country, in Walgett, remote northwest NSW, some 460 km from the ocean. When he was 14 he was invited to move to Batemans Bay to live with relatives.
Through school he did work experience at T&J Oysters on Bhundoo, the Clyde River, at Batemans Bay. He went on to work weekends at Batemans Bay Oysters.
“I realised I enjoyed the work,” Doody says. “It was physical, outside and on the water, so from there I did a two-year traineeship in Certificate IV Aquaculture.”
He completed his traineeship at Batemans Bay Oysters. There he met twins Jim and John Yiannaros who became his mentors.
“Jimbo could see I could open oysters and sent me to the Surf Side processing plant. I opened some oysters and that was how it started in 2007,” Doody says.
Gerard ‘Doody’ Dennis shucking oysters at Kelly Oysters in Galway in 2023. Photo: Cath Peachey/Narooma Rocks.
He has been competing in the Narooma Oyster Festival’s shucking championships since it began in 2018. He has always placed in the event and was the winner in 2018, 2021, 2023 and 2024. At this year’s championships, Doody shucked 30 rock oysters in two minutes and 49 seconds.
Oyster shuckers are not judged on speed alone. If they cut themselves with the knife and blood gets on their shucked oysters, they are disqualified. They are penalised if there is grit in the shell, nicks on the meat, any oysters are unopened, or the oysters are placed incorrectly on the shell.
Similar rules will apply at this year’s World Oyster Opening Championship on Saturday 28 September.
Last year Doody came in 8th place out of 16 competitors at Galway. That was a very creditable performance because he honed his shucking techniques on rock oysters. They are very different from the larger European flat oysters.
He learnt much from last year’s world championship. Doody’s technique of cutting the adductor muscle on rock oysters makes it easy to damage the shell of the European flat oysters. “I need to focus on getting into the oyster without cutting the shell.”
Doody will shape his oyster knife to be longer, and probably thicker, than for rock oysters.
His experience of competing on the world stage was so different from the familiar Narooma Oyster Festival.
“People aren’t yelling your name, they are yelling ‘Go Australia’ and that blew my mind,” Doody says. “Deep down while I was shucking oysters I was smiling.”
He says the competition is friendly and has a good vibe.
“They come from around the world, but it isn’t as big as the Narooma Oyster Festival,” he says. “Narooma highlights the food and beverages of the region, not just oysters. That’s why I think it has grown so big and so fast.”
Sammy and Doody Dennis carrying the Australian and Aboriginal flags in the street parade in Galway in 2023. Photo: Graham Peachey/Narooma Rocks.
Even so, the Galway competition is very prestigious – and expensive. Tickets cost 90 Euro, nearly $150.
Cath Peachey, chair of Narooma Rocks, which runs the Narooma Oyster Festival, accompanied Doody to Ireland last year. She says that Doody was a fantastic ambassador, not just for Aboriginal people, but also for the whole country.
“There is a fantastic parade down the cobbled streets of Galway, and he walked along proudly with the Australian and Aboriginal flags.”
When Doody was introduced at the championships, he was the most articulate speaker. He said he was so proud to be representing his country, mentioned the Narooma Oyster Festival and thanked his sponsors which no other entrant did.
Ms Peachey said that interest and passion he showed led him to be invited to be a judge at the Irish oyster opening championship. From that he learnt what the judges look for.
“From go to whoa, he was really excellent and did Australia proud,” Ms Peachey says.
Unfortunately, this year Doody will go to Ireland alone, without Ms Peachey or his wife Sam. However, representatives from the Australian Embassy in Ireland will be at the championship cheering him on.
Narooma Oyster Festival is also creating a virtual watch party for the event. People can subscribe to receive an email with the live stream link. Farmers tune in from Australia and all over the world.
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