An infrequent newsletter for oyster-loversBOOM! Umm, remember when the world’s restaurants were shut tight and oyster growers had nowhere to sell their bivalves and it was a disaster and we were urging oysterheads to order direct from growers to help keep them afloat? Yeah, well, that was so 2020. Summer is here, the air is clear, and the oyster biz is searingly hot once again. The New York Times has officially declared the market “bonkers,” and we are getting lots of intel that supports that assessment. Great news! If you did your part by ordering lots of oysters through the lean times, reward yourself by ordering more. You made a difference. If you didn’t, make it up to the industry by ordering some right now! And thank you; we now have proof that the oysterheads of America have made the local oyster scene unstoppable.Grillers in the Mist J. Kenji Lopez-Alt makes a strong case in the Times for grilling oysters in high summer, with a nice cameo from Hama Hama’s Justin Stang. It’s hard to argue: All the flavor, none of the vibrio. But the big mistake people make with their grilled oysters is to use oysters that are too small. All that shrinkage calls for your biggest bivalves. Those can be hard to find in these boutique days, but Stang’s Hama Hama can set you up.The Full New England On the New England coast, summer festivities have always been built on oysters, crabs, and lobster (oh, my!). If that’s you (and no matter where you are), Real Oyster Cult has you covered with their combo package, topped off (literally) with some mini-mignonettes. Supplement with a dram of Talisker, with whom ROC has teamed up on a nice pairing project.Can They Hear You? Newsflash! The Guardian has just discovered that oysters are alive, have a heart, and can hear the breaking waves. For this fast-developing story, click over to their site. Worth it for the Disney rendition of The Walrus and the Carpenter.A Salty Kiss Newsflash II: Island Creek just added Ocean Kiss oysters to its offerings this week. These are beautiful, deep-cupped oysters from Maine’s New Meadows River, raised by local legend Chris Warner, and they will sell out within days. Go.Re-enGAGE Here’s a sure sign of renewal: The rise of glitzy New York oyster houses. Brooklyn’s Gage & Tollner is back and buffer than ever, all gold and gaslights and shrimp cocktail. It’s an oyster house and much more, it’s the kind of thing we haven’t seen in Brooklyn in a while, and it even won over Pete Wells. Anyone else been? If so, dish. And if you haven’t, perhaps it’s time to gather your carefully saved pandemic pennies (lots of them) and go party like it’s 1899.Clamitous Heat The Pacific Northwest gave Death Valley a run for its money last week, and the results were, in the words of Hama Hama’s Adam James, “clamitous”: clams throwing themselves gasping from the 120-degree mud; mussels popping open up and down the flats like the world’s largest bouillabaisse. No word on the oysters yet. The Washington Post did a nice piece on the not-so-nice news, featuring Hama’s Lissa James, who urged followers to “vote for politicians who are brave enough to address climate change.”Summerstones Are In! Fortunately, when the mercury starts to rise in Washington State, Hama Hama has an ace in the hole: it’s summer farm, located in the waters off Skunk Island (see map). That farm is located much closer to the Pacific Ocean, meaning the water stays cold and the oysters stay perky. This year, that move is looking especially brilliant. Besides the cool perkiness, the nice thing about Summerstones is the intense brine, a product of that ocean environment. It’s a salty twist on the classic Hama sweetness. If you agree, say so. And if fat and creamy is more your speed, they also have Eld Inlets from South Puget Sound (see map again).Summer Blues Are In, Too Addendum to the above: Here’s an exclusive first look at Summer Blues, the tumbled companion to Summerstones that just hit the market for the first time. (In other words, a Summer Blue is to a Summerstone as a Blue Pool is to a Hama Hama.) Be the first to rate them (you have to have actually tasted them) and win…lifelong bragging rights.Beware Rogue Oysters The summer Olympics have an unusual problem: Too many oysters! Floating equipment installed on Tokyo Bay to baffle the waves, so the waves wouldn’t baffle the competitors in the rowing sports, began to mysteriously sink last year. The culprit: 31,000 pounds of “rogue” Pacific oysters who had made their home on it. The Post has the story, with nice quotes from oyster maven Julie Qiu. Two takeaways: What a great sign that Tokyo Bay is still brimming with native Pacific oysters; and can’t this problem easily be solved by making oyster eating an Olympic event?Rate That Oyster! Every now and then we like to call attention to one of the world’s most amazing oysters that hasn’t had its fair share of reviews on Oysterater. This time, that oyster is North Havens, raised by Adam Campbell on, yes, North Haven Island, in Maine’s Penobscot Bay. It’s an amazing spot, a natural salt pond that fills and empties with the tides twice daily, giving the oysters their very own well-protected jacuzzi. Island Creek Oysters sometimes carries this oyster, and has some great details about the spot. You can also find them in Maine shops like Harbor Seafood. But wherever you find them, when you eat them, RATE THEM. We’re only as good as you make us.Wishing you fresh oysters with friends, The OysteRater crewGet Fresh Shipped OystersForward by EmailCopyright © 2021 Oysterater, All rights reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list

The post Summer Sizzle 2021 Newsletter appeared first on The Oyster Guide.

The post Best Oyster Gifts appeared first on The Oyster Guide.

The post 2020 Holiday Newsletter appeared first on The Oyster Guide.

The post Solstice Spirit appeared first on The Oyster Guide.

European Oysters Safe to Eat

We are writing to correct some of the information offered in the May 22 opinion piece by Mr. & Mrs. Osinski titled: Keep Europe’s Sick Shellfish Out of America.

Mr. Osinski seeks to block a seven-year effort to re-open trade in bivalve shellfish between the U.S. and the EU. He points to the fact that populations of the Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, have been decimated by a strain of herpes virus known as OsHV-1. This virus doesn’t impact humans, but we know it causes mass mortalities in young Pacific oysters. The virus has devastated oyster production in France, Australia and New Zealand and has spread through much of Europe. We are unsure if it impacts the American oyster, Crassostrea virginica, but studies are underway.

It is reasonable to assume that any live shellfish coming from Europe or New Zealand carry the virus, and growers in the U.S. are understandably concerned. Our response needs to be legal, effective and guided by the best available science. The knee jerk response of banning shellfish trade with the EU fails in all three of these criteria. 

The World Organization for Animal Health maintains a list of 117 animal diseases known as the OIE list. Most countries ban trade in animals from countries known to have these infections to prevent the spread of these diseases. OsHV-1 is not on this list. If we were to ban the imports of EU oysters it could trigger retaliatory actions since we don’t have a legal justification.

Worse yet, banning EU shellfish imports would not solve the problem. OsHV-1 spread to New Zealand oysters six years ago and we import those oysters regularly. West Coast growers of Pacific Oysters believe that it is simply a matter of time before the infection reaches their shores.  What then? Do we ban West Coast oysters on the East Coast too?

International movement of exotic species and diseases has been exacerbated by international shipping for decades. Cargo ships carry vast amounts of ballast water, dumping that water when they take on cargo. Our ability to regulate this known vector for exotic species and diseases has been hampered by the desire for free trade.

We believe the best approach to mitigating the risk of OsHV-1 introduction lies in public education and labeling. It is illegal to put Pacific oysters in western Atlantic waters, but restaurants and oyster lovers need to know the risks involved. Waterfront restaurants should probably not serve exotic oysters and shell recyclers need to understand why we mandate drying shell for months before that shell can be used for reef restoration.

The knee jerk response of blocking shellfish trade with the EU will simply trigger retaliatory actions, hurting our industry while not fully eliminating the risk.

Robert Rheault, PhD.

Executive Director, East Coast Shellfish Growers Association

Thomas Kehoe

Past President, East Coast Shellfish Growers Association

CEO Kingsbridge Strategies

Contact information:

Robert Rheault

Bob@ECSGA.org

(401) 783-3360

The post Rebuttal to Oyster Herpes Op-Ed appeared first on The Oyster Guide.

Keep Europe’s Sick Shellfish Out of America

By Michael Osinski and Isabel Osinski May 21, 2019 6:59 p.m. ET

European oysters have herpes. It isn’t the virus that infects humans, but OsHV-1 kills up to 90% of juvenile oysters, making it a serious threat to the shellfish industry and ecosystems. Next month, ships full of live European Union oysters will arrive on American shores for the first time in a decade. All will be carrying the virus.

America banned imports of EU shellfish in 2008 because of concerns over norovirus, which can make people sick for short periods. In November the U.S. eased the ban, allowing Massachusetts and Washington state to trade with Spain and the Netherlands.

Our family runs an oyster farm on Long Island. In March we visited several European farms and were alarmed by what we heard and saw. In Ireland farmer Thomas Galvin pointed to a pile of dead oysters and said: “Norovirus is nothing. This is what you don’t want.” Last year Mr. Galvin lost 90% of his crop to OsHV-1. “What is wrong with your country?”

The virus appeared in France in 2008 and has since spread throughout Europe, Australia, New Zealand and China. The East Coast of the U.S. has remained free from the virus, but a milder strain has been a recurrent problem on the West Coast for 20 years.

The infected EU oysters are headed for American restaurants, but we see some possible vectors of transmission into our waters. Popular shell recycling programs gather used shells from restaurants and set them with oyster larvae, or spat, and place them in bays to build living reefs. Diners at restaurants built over the water sometimes toss shells overboard, another potential source of infection. I can see four such restaurants from our work dock here. National Geographic reported an English oyster farmer lost 80% of his crop to the OsHV-1 virus after using a piece of French equipment that had been out of the water for several years.

Scientists have detected susceptibility to the virus in Crassostrea Virginica, the oysters we grown on the East Coast. Out west they grow the same species as the Europeans: Crassostrea gigas. Introducing the virulent herpes strain from Europe into West Coast oyster beds would be catastrophic.

We are asking for common sense. No pig, cow or chicken—not to mention a tulip bulb—would be allowed into this country if it were carrying a virus as dangerous as OsHV-1. When we called the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, an aquaculture specialist told us to start a petition. After talking to her boss and industry lobbyists, she informed us that the USDA doesn’t consider oysters animals.

We started the petition anyway, and many of New York’s most prominent chefs and restaurateurs have signed. There is time to prevent a problem instead of reacting to one. Why recklessly experiment in our waters where there is no do-over? “You don’t want OsHV-1 in this country,” says Chris Langdon, a marine biologist at Oregon State University. “Stop it while you can.”

Mr. and Mrs. Osinski own Widow’s Hole Oysters.

The post European Herpes Threatens America’s Oysters appeared first on The Oyster Guide.

Breaking News: Real Oyster Cult and Oysterguide are offering a 20% discount thru the end of March on all oyster orders. Why? Because the oysters are spectacular right now. Amazing selection, amazing quality. Plus, it’s March, and everyone needs an excuse to have fun. Right now ROC has Kumamotos, Belons, Raspberry Points, and several other museum-quality oysters, so click on over and enter “Oysterater” into the discount box. Did we mention the mussels and clams, too???

The post Real Oyster Cult 20% Off! appeared first on The Oyster Guide.

Fascinating article in the New York Times this week on Croatian oysters, which apparently have been raised in the area since Roman times? Who knew? What’s most remarkable is that they seem to all be wild European Flats, which are hard to find in Europe these days (and especially in the Mediterranean!), wild-harvested as spat and then farmed to market size. (You can see the floats in the photo above.) Can this be true? A Euro Flat paradise in the Adriatic Sea? Would love you to weigh in if you’ve had them, or know more details. Apparently Mali Ston is the spot:

The post Who Has Had Croatian Oysters? appeared first on The Oyster Guide.

Got Green-Gills?
Welcome to winter. Have you had your Green Gills yet? In the Marenne-Oleron region of France, oyster’s gills turn green in winter when they feed on a particular type of phytoplankton. That plankton also grows naturally on the East Coast of the U.S. It makes the oysters crazy delicious. And it’s starting to happen right now. Learn all about green gills on Oysterguide and in The Essential Oyster. Think of them as a multivitamin to keep you going through the dark months.

World’s Brightest Oysters
You may have heard that oysters (being brainless, after all) can be a little dim, but not these oysters! The team at Real Oyster Cult upcycles their old shells (yes, washed) and turns them into a holiday showstopper with copper wiring and LEDs. Delivery takes two weeks, so if you want them for Christmas, get on it right now.

An Umami Double Shot
Island Creek just announced it will be shipping its wildly popular Block Party package right through New Year’s Eve: 100 oysters plus 250g of caviar. If you’re an umami hound, and you can’t get enough caviar and oysters together, this one’s for you, as the price is less than half what you’d normally pay. If you’re not, well, they’ll ship it to anyone else you like, too.

New Online Oyster Marketplace
OysteRater now has far more oysters available for direct shipment than ever before, thanks to the additions of The Oyster Common, a new service that helps small farms handle online orders, Fedex shipments, and other backend challenges. They’ve already signed up Glidden Point, Johns River, Eros, and Peconic Gold, with more to come. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: There’s never been a better time to be an oyster eater in America!

Books for the Bookish
The already brimming cup of oyster literature now overfloweth with two new additions: The Oyster Companion, by Canadian oyster legend Patrick McMurray, and A High Low Tide: The Revival of a Southern Oyster, by Andre Gallant.

Oystergram
Here’s a brilliant idea from Hama Hama. Send someone special an Oystergram and they’ll receive a handsome package with a shucking knife, a shell magnet, a desk calendar with sizzling Hama shots, a pin, a sticker, and a voucher for four-dozen oysters to be shipped at the recipient’s convenience. That old oysters-rotting-under-the-Christmas-tree problem, solved at last!

Billion Oyster Progress
A century ago, New York Harbor was lifeless, thanks to decades of chemicals and sewage. That was in stark contrast to the New York of the 1600s, which contained 220,000 acres of oyster reefs. Now NYC is again headed in the right direction, thanks to the astounding work of the Billion Oyster Project, which has deputized local schools, restaurants, and organizations in the push to restore both water quality and living reefs. Considering giving to the Billion Oyster Project this season. We do.

The post Oyster Gift Ideas 2018 appeared first on The Oyster Guide.

Oyster Rolls for Thanksgiving
Adrienne Anderson (oyster stylist extraordinaire) did a stint developing recipes for Hama Hama Oyster Company last year, and it stands as one of the pinnacles of oyster cuisine. The Oyster Rolls (think lobster rolls with bivalves) are how I like to get Thanksgiving Day rolling (especially good with the early football game). They require a supply of top-notch shucked oysters, of which Hama Hamas are the cream of the crop.

Knives for Thanksgiving
…or for a nifty stocking stuffer for the oyster fanatic in your life: Oyster knives made with recycled plastic collected from the beaches of Haiti. This joint venture between Island Creek Oyster Foundation, which has been working in Haiti for years, and R Murphy Knives (which was recently acquired by Dexter-Russell, which will continue the brand) pays locals in Haiti to collect plastic off their beaches, pelletizes that plastic, and turns it into oyster-knife handles. Lemons into lemonade!

More Fun Stuff
Need more ideas? Oyster goddess Julie Qiu salts up the holidays with her Oyster Gift Giving Guide.

The post Oyster Ideas for Thanksgiving appeared first on The Oyster Guide.