After growing oysters on the New South Wales South Coast for more than three decades, Caroline Henry knows demand is always high.
But getting a loan from a major bank to expand her Wonboyn Lake business has been tricky.
That is largely because ocean farmers — producing oysters, seaweed and shellfish — do not own the resource they farm on.
"We don't actually own the leases, we actually lease the leases," Ms Henry said.
"For a long time, financial institutions wouldn't accept them as an asset, because you only had them for 15 years, even thought they were generally renewed."
It is a problem being tackled by new Australian startup OceanFarmr for the first time.
They are offering a Farm to Buy program, providing oyster farmers like Ms Henry the chance to scale up without taking on risk or debt.
"Finance is the biggest pain point," co-founder and oyster farmer Ewen McAsh said.
"Ocean farmers really struggle to get the capital they need to grow."
Bigger farm, smaller risk
Under the Farm to Buy model, Oceanfarmr will supply new gear like oyster baskets and oyster seeds which are needed to expand a farm.
When that initial crop is sold, the proceeds are used to pay out the finance and the farmer owns the new equipment outright.
"Farmers need to upgrade their gear, and they need to be able to do it without putting themselves into debt," Mr McAsh said.
Ms Henry said the model might be the only way some people can get in to the industry, or expand to a sustainable scale.
She purchased her lease with her husband 32 years ago for a few thousand dollars, but said now leases can sell for up to $5 million.
"It's bad enough to try and buy a house, but you try to buy an oyster farm," she said.
Under the Farm to Buy program, the crop is monitored using the OceanFarmr app, which farmers use to provide monthly compliance reports and collect data on their own farm practice.
Mr McAsh made the app to try and solve a problem of his own.
"I found after a decade of learning how to run the farm, I was the only one who could run the farm," he said.
"I could never leave."
He hoped having the data documented would not only mean more personal freedom for the farmers, but also more certainty for potential investors.
Floods, fire, a need for new equipment
Many of the oyster farmers on the South Coast endured up to six significant flood events in the past two years which have damaged their crops.
Mr McAsh said the timing was right to offer a more sustainable financial solution while the industry rebuilt.
"There is gear out there that is more robust, that can handle these flood events, but the farmers need to get the funding to be able to actually get it on their farms," he said.
Mr McAsh said increasing the financial stability of ocean farms would also help them prepare financially for even more dramatic weather events in the years ahead.
"I spent a decade working seven days a week and growing a business, and after that, yes, I had a successful business, but I'd paid myself almost nothing, and I was leveraged to the bank," he said.
"My vision for ocean farmers is that they own a business that can afford to have cash in the bank to see them through tough times, and that they're able to pay the farmers themselves and the employees decent wages."
