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Catching oysters in Sweden - 23 April 2021

Lotta Klemming has joined her family business as an oyster diver on Sweden’s Grebbestad archipelago. Braving the glacial depths, clad in a dry suit and flippers and armed with a scuba kit, Lotta, the only woman of her profession in Sweden, dives year-round to catch the local delicacy: wild oysters.

Lotta: "We are on the west coast of Sweden, very close to the Norwegian border. And we have wild oysters here so instead of farming oysters we actually pick them by hand through diving all year around."

The oyster trade didn’t really chime with Lotta and so, instead, drawn to the downtown delights of Gothenburg, she pursued a career in fashion.

Lotta: "Before I started oyster diving, I worked in the fashion industry for big chains in Sweden and I also travelled around the world. Maybe I didn’t see myself doing it because I connected it very much to a very manly job."

Nevertheless, Lotta yearned for her marine roots and was lured back to the calm of her native village.

Lotta: "The first time I picked oysters, I felt very good at it and that gave me a very fulfilled feeling that I never had before."

As she readies her catch for the wholesalers, Lotta is well aware of the economic potential of these molluscs – prized for their flavour due to the Grebbestad’s nutrient rich waters – but oyster diving is more than a livelihood for Lotta, it’s a way of being and a source of contentment.

Lotta: "What makes our oyster, the Swedish oyster so special is probably first of all because of the taste - they have a very intense taste. It’s not like a new beginner’s oyster and just because our ocean here is so clean, it's A-classified."