Tragic loss of Argyll oyster farmer

Hugo Vajk

THE Scottish shellfish industry was saddened to learn of the death on January 7 of Argyll oyster farmer Hugo Vajk, following an accident at work on the shore of Loch Creran, writes Nicki Holmyard.

The full circumstances remain unclear, but his colleagues raised the alarm when Hugo was found in the water. He was retrieved by Oban RNLI lifeboat and airlifted by Coastguard rescue helicopter to Lorn and Islands Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Hugo and his wife Judith transferred their oyster business from Herm in the Channel Islands to Scotland in 1995, and had grown the farm into one of the largest and most successful in Scotland. However, he was not one to shout about his achievements, preferring to work quietly in the background.

In October 2017, when he won, for the third time, the Association of Scottish Shellfish Growers’ (ASSG) ‘Best Native Oyster’ competition, he encouraged Judith to collect the prize plate instead.

Oyster farming was not just a living for Frenchman Hugo, it was a passion and something he did instinctively.

‘He loved living here and he loved his job. He was very well known and respected,’ said Judith.

Her sentiments were echoed by friends, colleagues and customers, as tributes poured in.

‘When Hugo moved north from Herm, I thought he was the best thing that happened to Scottish oyster farming,’ said Andy Lane, former managing director of Loch Fyne Oysters.

‘He was a strong, no nonsense charac- ter with a confident knowledge of oyster growing that surpassed all of us.

‘There was a magic about him, and both he and Judith worked with such cheerful commitment. His death is so premature and so sad.’

Doug McLeod, former chairman of the ASSG, said Hugo will be sorely missed by all who knew him.

‘My contacts with Hugo, both during my decades in the ASSG and more recently, were without exception positive. He was highly knowledgeable about oyster cultivation, but he appreciat- ed the bigger picture, and readily supported initiatives designed to promote the sector.

‘Hugo was always a positive presence at our association meetings, and was a stalwart and supportive guy, with a ready smile and a dry sense of humour.

‘And even after years of determined application to produce the ‘best’ oysters, as he did again in 2017, he was still seeking further improvements - not as a perfectionist, but as a grower with a keen sense of the possible.The industry has certainly lost a champion,’ he said.