In front of a large crowd of seafood lovers, South Goulburn Island elder Bunug Galaminda raised his hands in triumph and declared "this is the moment".
After years of hard work, oysters from his remote community were being enjoyed by consumers on the mainland for the first time.
"We've sweated, we've struggled, but I've always said [with] patience and hard work you can go a long way and I thank everybody who has supported oyster farming on our island," Mr Galaminda said.
"We're now showing the world our blacktip rock oysters, or as we call them, Arafura oysters.
"Should I cry, should I laugh? I don't know, but it makes me proud to be here representing people from my island and show people the Northern Territory has riches in the ocean and there's so much more we can do."
Start of something special
NT Fisheries program leader Matt Osborne said last night's tasting event in Darwin was years in the making.
He said a lot of work had happened this month to get the oysters to the capital.
"The guys at South Goulburn Island were up at 3am collecting these beautiful oysters from the long-lines when the tide was low and there was no crocodile danger," he said.
"They cleaned them, packed them up, flew them to Darwin, and they've come up a real treat."
He said there were a lot of people working hard to make sure Arafura oysters would be consistently available in the coming years.
South Goulburn Island is located off the Arnhem Land coastline, about 300 kilometres east of Darwin.
New Zealander Debbie Pannell, who was in Darwin for this week's World Aquaculture Conference, was among those sampling Arafura oysters for the first time.
"It's exciting to be here and to be introduced to these beautiful oysters," she said.
"We've tried a few varieties in the US and globally, but these oysters are outstanding, really good, a firm-flesh and really sweet."
