The State of Oysters

The Perfect Oyster Bite

I am so honored to be invited to "The" Annual Oyster Party which has been going on for decades.  It is great fun for me because many of the guests are interested in food, are CSA members, and are interested in great tasting ingredients and food.  As I chatted with various people, the topic came around to the humble oyster.  This party gets boxes and boxes of oysters from Apalachicola.  This year, the oysters taste different, were way saltier, and smaller than Apalachicola oysters from years pasts.  Where they oysters live is an area that is on the freshwater and seawater line, where the water is brackish.  The seawater is coming further up into the bay providing more salt to the oyster beds, thus the oysters are saltier in flavor because they are living in saltier water.  The Apalachicola River is not supplying as much water to the bay, so there a lower volume of fresh water to feed the oyster beds as years gone by.  The Apalachicola River feeds water to Georgia, and Georgia has been in a state of drought for years, and Georgia has been in a state of population growth, so there is more demand for fresh water up stream from Apalachicola.  The result is that the Apalachicola oysters are not reproducing for some reason.  It is possible because the salinity is too high, the temperture is too low, but it is because the environment has changed and the environment is not right to reproduce.  Also the BP oil spill dispersants have been detected in Apalachicola Bay.  It is possible that the chemical change in water may be inhibiting reproduction.

This may be one of the last oyster parties I get invited to, so I really tried to enjoy myself.