Governed by the weather and tidal activity, it's no wonder the industry has had a long pause this year, with a series of high rainfall periods.

With a La Nina event having now been declared, these conditions have been predicted to persist until the end of January, but local farmers are hopeful for an easing of conditions, with plenty of healthy oysters ready to be harvested.

Caroline Henry of K&C Rock Oysters in Wonboyn said the business didn't sell any oysters from March when the area experienced flooding, and managed only one day of pre-Xmas sales before flooding again affected harvesting last week.

"It's been up and down, the salt levels didn't get up," Ms Henry said.

All commercial shellfish in NSW need to be harvested in accordance with the NSW Shellfish Program, as determined by Food Authority.

In order to harvest, guidelines stipulate that the salt profile has to come up to 24 parts per thousand, which hasn't occurred in the southern part of the shire because frequent rain has diluted the salt.

"We knew it would be a wet season but we are hoping we don't get too much more rain," Ms Henry said.

"We all have lots of oysters ready to go, they are so lovely and fat."

Each lake has it's own management plan in place and as little as one inch of rain can result in businesses automatically having to close to harvesting.

"The entrance is working really well and the long term gain of the rainfall is that Wonboyn estuary is going to be really healthy."

Ms Henry said requests for oysters have been pouring in, with phone calls every day and eager tourists dropping in regularly, many who visit specific estuaries on their quest for a high quality feed.

"It will be two weeks before we can test again but we should have something for the new year, we've got to be positive about these things," she said.

"Everyone has been locked out for so long and it would be great to see rock oysters on plates being enjoyed again."

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