8/27/2023 0 Comments Automatic seafood closing![]() ![]() "I think people are open to almost anything. Shucking houses, however, pay far less for oysters. "I know that they're happy to be moving stuff out."Ī few farmers are selling their oysters to processors to be shucked and sold for cooking. "I don't think we're saving any orphanages or anything, but we're still able to move 2000 or 3000 oysters a week," said Kimball House partner Bryan Rackley. MORE: 'Another punch in the gut': Gulf Coast shrimpers navigate the coronavirus crisis Restaurants like Automatic Seafood in Birmingham, Al., or Kimball House in Atlanta have been selling to-go bags of 50 oysters to support the farmers. Some oyster farmers have turned to selling directly to consumers, the same strategy used by produce farmers and shrimpers during the coronavirus crisis. An oyster that grows too big in these months when raw bars are shuttered will lose much of its value. "We still have to do all the stuff anyway," said Boris Guerrero, who has raised Southern Belle oysters with his family since 2013 in the waters off Grand Isle, La.Ĭonnoisseurs of oysters prefer not to slurp any with a shell longer than three inches. That work must continue even with no money coming in. As the oysters get bigger and crowd the bags, the farmer has to regularly spread them out into more bags to give them room to grow. Off-bottom farmed oysters are grown in suspended bags with a wide mesh to let in nutrients. "The oystermen are saying either their sales have completely stopped or they might be selling 1% of what they normally do," said Brian Callam, director of LSU's Grand Isle Oyster Research Lab. The shutdown of restaurant dining rooms due to COVID-19 has shriveled oyster sales. Not many people, however, eat raw oysters at home or want to buy a dozen to go in a styrofoam box. A single oyster from Murder Point in Alabama, Shelley Farms in Louisiana or Biloxi Butter Oysters in Mississippi can cost up to $3. ![]() They sell for more than the oysters pulled from Gulf reefs. MORE: Why your next tasty Gulf Coast oyster could come from a cageįarmed oysters are raised to be eaten raw, savored with nothing more than a squeeze of lemon or a mignonette sauce. Mississippi began oyster farming last year, and Texas hopes to open its first farms in the fall. Only in the last decade have oyster farms come to the Gulf Coast, with Alabama and Florida leading the way followed by Louisiana. It produces oysters that are polished and pristine with a consistent taste of a single place. Off-bottom oyster farming has long been the norm on the east and west coasts.
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