After salmon fishing in the Yemen, now oyster farming in the Emirates
IT was an idea that seemed to come straight from a Hollywood movie – a Scotsman setting up a shellfish business in the scorching temperatures of the Middle East.
In a move that has parallels with the hit film Salmon Fishing In The Yemen, Ramie Murray has set up the first oyster farm in the United Arab Emirates.
But unlike the tribulations faced by Ewan McGregor’s character in the movie, Mr Murray’s idea is a runaway success, with wealthy gourmets in Dubai wolfing down 20,000 oysters a month.
Against the odds, the delicacy – usually grown in the cold waters of Scotland – is thriving in the Gulf.
Mr Murray, 37, said: ‘People have been surprised. With me being Scottish and in this part of the world, doing aquaculture, there were a lot of comments about Salmon Fishing In The Yemen.
‘A lot of European chefs had a lot of scepticism but my venture isn’t quite as mad as the film.’
In the 2011 comedy drama, Ewan McGregor is a grouchy fisheries expert asked by a wealthy sheikh to bring fly-fishing to the desert.
In contrast, Mr Murray had no experience in aquaculture and was inspired to try it while working as a project manager for a renewable energy company in Muscat, Oman.
He said: ‘I was at a restaurant and couldn’t get local lobster. I looked into it and realised they had been overfished. Fish stocks are going down all over the world and the population is going up, so it seemed like a growth industry.’
He added: ‘We tested a few different species but oysters came out really well. It’s the same oyster they farm in Scotland – Pacific cupped oysters. It was introduced to places like Scotland and France and is very hardy, it can cope with a range of temperatures.’
Mr Murray spent his early childhood in Fife and moved to Dubai aged eight, but returned to Edinburgh for university. He returned to the UAE, where he lives with wife Daina and sons James, four, and eight-month-old Henry.
Setting up in Fujairah, an emirate east of Dubai, two years ago, he produces up to 20,000 oysters a month in the waters of Dibba Bay, grown in netted baskets. They are on the menu at Dubai’s top seafood restaurants, including the oyster bar at Dubai’s Opera.
He said: ‘We’re only selling to hotels at the moment. It’s about £10 a box and for that you get 14 smaller oysters or ten larger ones.
‘In Europe a mature oyster takes two to three years but we get them in nine months because there’s lots of food and they don’t hibernate.’
Back home, mother Lesley and former oil worker father Jamie, both 60, could not be more proud. Mr Murray said: ‘Surprisingly, they thought it was a good idea from the start.
‘They’re moving back to Cupar after working abroad since the 1990s. They get to watch from afar and eat oysters when they visit.’
‘Lots of food and they don’t hibernate’