Unsold oysters used to re-establish natural coastal reefs as restaurant demand dropped during the pandemic
September 7, 2021

WESTPORT, MASSACHUSETTS - APR. 22, 2021. Spindrift Oysters owner and operator Toph Jusseaume (left) and deckhands Aidan Corey (center) and Tony Wood lift tote bins filled with oysters from their boat after harvesting from the company's 3-acre farm in the West Branch of the Westport River in Westport, Massachusetts, on Thu., April 22, 2021. Oysters are sold by count rather than weight and each bin contains approximately 500 oysters. The oysters being harvested on this day are too big or misshapen for commercial sale due to an extreme drop in restaurant demand due to the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. Farmed oysters take two years to reach prime commercial saleability, and the drop in sales resulted in tens of thousands of oysters that grew too big for sale. Spindrift Oysters owner and operator Toph Jusseaume says that during 2020, sales from his farm were down 90% from the previous year because of this drop in restaurant demand. The oysters harvested on this day have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, 15,000 from this farm on this day, and another 20,000 oysters from the same farm a few months ago, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
WESTPORT, MASSACHUSETTS - APR. 22, 2021. Spindrift Oysters owner and operator Toph Jusseaume (center) organizes oyster cages on his floating equipment and sorting raft while harvesting oysters at his 3-acre farm in the West Branch of the Westport River in Westport, Massachusetts, on Thu., April 22, 2021. The oysters being harvested on this day are too big or misshapen for commercial sale due to an extreme drop in restaurant demand due to the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. Farmed oysters take two years to reach prime commercial saleability, and the drop in sales resulted in tens of thousands of oysters that grew too big for sale. Jusseaume says that during 2020, sales from his farm were down 90% from the previous year because of this drop in restaurant demand. The oysters harvested on this day have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, 15,000 from this farm on this day, and another 20,000 oysters from the same farm a few months ago, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times

Starting in 2020, millions of dollars of farmed oysters in the US had no place to go because of low restaurant demand due to the pandemic. It takes approximately 2 years to grow an oyster from seed to restaurant-size, and with dropped demand, farmers are stuck with misshapen oysters that are too big or ugly to sell. A US government program run with the Nature Conservancy throughout the Eastern US and Washington state bought up these oysters in late 2020 and early 2021 to help out farmers and transplant them to waterways where they will help fight climate change by filtering water and rebuilding coastal reefs. Then, in the summer of 2021, demand skyrocketed, but with a disrupted growth cycle, the farmers were struggling to keep up with demand.

Commissioned by the New York Times but sadly never published, I spent a couple of days out on the water at the base of Cape Cod with farmers from Round Island Shellfish and Spindrift Oysters as they tended to their overgrown oyster beds and relocated some of them to a one-acre pilot project re-establishing a natural oyster reef in coastal waters.

A big thanks to the team at The Nature Conservancy, the oyster farmers, and to Matt at the NYT for the support!

FAIRHAVEN, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 20, 2021. Oyster farmer Matt Loo of Round Island Shellfish pulls mesh oyster bags out of the water to empty into totes as he harvests oysters from his Nasketucket Bay oyster farm in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on Thu., May 20, 2021. Loo has been farming his one-person, three-acre operation since 2012, and estimates he spends five hours at his farm four days a week. He works at a larger oyster operation on Cape Cod on other days. During the coronavirus pandemic starting in 2020, Loo says his sales were off by 30 to 40 percent. "It went from 'Oh wow, this is gonna be a great year to restaurants closed. Nobody's buying anything," he says. The oysters harvested are what Loo calls "less than desirable." Due to the drop in demand during the pandemic, Loo had to crowd cages, which led to misshapen oysters or poor shell development, which makes them unsuitable for commercial sale. Loo ordinarily sells his oysters to commercial wholesalers, but the oysters harvested on this day have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, approximately 12,000 from this farm on this day, and another 37,000 oysters from the same farm late last year, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
WESTPORT, MASSACHUSETTS - APR. 22, 2021. Spindrift Oysters owner and operator Toph Jusseaume adjusts a rope to pull up oyster cages while harvesting oysters at his 3-acre farm in the West Branch of the Westport River in Westport, Massachusetts, on Thu., April 22, 2021. The oysters being harvested on this day are too big or misshapen for commercial sale due to an extreme drop in restaurant demand due to the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. Farmed oysters take two years to reach prime commercial saleability, and the drop in sales resulted in tens of thousands of oysters that grew too big for sale. Jusseaume says that during 2020, sales from his farm were down 90% from the previous year because of this drop in restaurant demand. The oysters harvested on this day have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, 15,000 from this farm on this day, and another 20,000 oysters from the same farm a few months ago, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
FAIRHAVEN, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 20, 2021. A buoy marks the location of an oyster cage in oyster farmer Matt Loo of Round Island Shellfish's Nasketucket Bay oyster farm in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on Thu., May 20, 2021. Loo has been farming his one-person, three-acre operation since 2012, and estimates he spends five hours at his farm four days a week. He works at a larger oyster operation on Cape Cod on other days. During the coronavirus pandemic starting in 2020, Loo says his sales were off by 30 to 40 percent. "It went from 'Oh wow, this is gonna be a great year to restaurants closed. Nobody's buying anything," he says. The oysters harvested are what Loo calls "less than desirable." Due to the drop in demand during the pandemic, Loo had to crowd cages, which led to misshapen oysters or poor shell development, which makes them unsuitable for commercial sale. Loo ordinarily sells his oysters to commercial wholesalers, but the oysters harvested on this day have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, approximately 12,000 from this farm on this day, and another 37,000 oysters from the same farm late last year, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
WESTPORT, MASSACHUSETTS - APR. 22, 2021. Spindrift Oysters owner and operator Toph Jusseaume displays an oyster that is too big and misshapen for commercial sale while harvesting oysters from his 3-acre farm in the West Branch of the Westport River in Westport, Massachusetts, on Thu., April 22, 2021. The oysters being harvested on this day are too big or misshapen for commercial sale due to an extreme drop in restaurant demand due to the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. Farmed oysters take two years to reach prime commercial saleability, and the drop in sales resulted in tens of thousands of oysters that grew too big for sale. Spindrift Oysters owner and operator Toph Jusseaume says that during 2020, sales from his farm were down 90% from the previous year because of this drop in restaurant demand. The oysters harvested on this day have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, 15,000 from this farm on this day, and another 20,000 oysters from the same farm a few months ago, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
FAIRHAVEN, MASSACHUSETTS - APR. 22, 2021. Steve Kirk, a Coastal Restoration Ecologist with The Nature Conservancy, counts a bin of oysters that are part of the 15,000 freshly-harvested oysters grown by Spindrift Oysters in nearby Westport, Mass., before dumping them into Little Bay in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on Thu., April 22, 2021. Oysters are sold by count rather than by weight and the farmers estimated about 500 oysters in each bin. Kirk counted 503 oysters in this bin. All of the oysters, harvested from their farm in Westport, Massachusetts, were too big or misshapen for commercial sale due to an extreme drop in restaurant demand due to the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. The oysters are part of a pilot ecological restoration program. Farmed oysters take two years to reach prime commercial saleability, and the drop in sales resulted in tens of thousands of oysters that grew too big for sale. Spindrift Oysters owner and operator Toph Jusseaume says that during 2020, sales from his farm were down 90% from the previous year because of this drop in restaurant demand. These oysters have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, which join another 20,000 oysters from the same farm a few months ago, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
FAIRHAVEN, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 20, 2021. Steve Kirk, a Coastal Restoration Ecologist with The Nature Conservancy, uses a ruler to measure a harvested oyster after farmer Matt Loo of Round Island Shellfish brought in a harvest from his Nasketucket Bay farm in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on Thu., May 20, 2021. Loo has been farming his one-person, three-acre operation since 2012, and estimates he spends five hours at his farm four days a week. He works at a larger oyster operation on Cape Cod on other days. During the coronavirus pandemic starting in 2020, Loo says his sales were off by 30 to 40 percent. "It went from 'Oh wow, this is gonna be a great year to restaurants closed. Nobody's buying anything," he says. The oysters harvested are what Loo calls "less than desirable." Due to the drop in demand during the pandemic, Loo had to crowd cages, which led to misshapen oysters or poor shell development, which makes them unsuitable for commercial sale. Loo ordinarily sells his oysters to commercial wholesalers, but the oysters harvested on this day have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, approximately 12,000 from this farm on this day, and another 37,000 oysters from the same farm late last year, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
FAIRHAVEN, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 20, 2021. Steve Kirk (in orange waders, blue gloves), a Coastal Restoration Ecologist with The Nature Conservancy, and oyster farmer Matt Loo of Round Island Shellfish dump a portion of approximately 12,000 oysters harvested that day from Loo's farm into an environmental restoration area of Little Bay in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on Thu., May 20, 2021. Loo has been farming his one-person, three-acre operation since 2012, and estimates he spends five hours at his farm four days a week. He works at a larger oyster operation on Cape Cod on other days. During the coronavirus pandemic starting in 2020, Loo says his sales were off by 30 to 40 percent. "It went from 'Oh wow, this is gonna be a great year to restaurants closed. Nobody's buying anything," he says. The oysters harvested are what Loo calls "less than desirable." Due to the drop in demand during the pandemic, Loo had to crowd cages, which led to misshapen oysters or poor shell development, which makes them unsuitable for commercial sale. Loo ordinarily sells his oysters to commercial wholesalers, but the oysters harvested on this day have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, approximately 12,000 from this farm on this day, and another 37,000 oysters from the same farm late last year, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
FAIRHAVEN, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 20, 2021. Oyster farmer Matt Loo of Round Island Shellfish pulls mesh oyster bags out of the water to empty into totes as he harvests oysters from his Nasketucket Bay oyster farm in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on Thu., May 20, 2021. Loo has been farming his one-person, three-acre operation since 2012, and estimates he spends five hours at his farm four days a week. He works at a larger oyster operation on Cape Cod on other days. During the coronavirus pandemic starting in 2020, Loo says his sales were off by 30 to 40 percent. "It went from 'Oh wow, this is gonna be a great year to restaurants closed. Nobody's buying anything," he says. The oysters harvested are what Loo calls "less than desirable." Due to the drop in demand during the pandemic, Loo had to crowd cages, which led to misshapen oysters or poor shell development, which makes them unsuitable for commercial sale. Loo ordinarily sells his oysters to commercial wholesalers, but the oysters harvested on this day have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, approximately 12,000 from this farm on this day, and another 37,000 oysters from the same farm late last year, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
FAIRHAVEN, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 20, 2021. Oyster farmer Matt Loo of Round Island Shellfish's uses a hook to retrieve oyster cages from his Nasketucket Bay oyster farm during a harvest in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on Thu., May 20, 2021. Loo has been farming his one-person, three-acre operation since 2012, and estimates he spends five hours at his farm four days a week. He works at a larger oyster operation on Cape Cod on other days. During the coronavirus pandemic starting in 2020, Loo says his sales were off by 30 to 40 percent. "It went from 'Oh wow, this is gonna be a great year to restaurants closed. Nobody's buying anything," he says. The oysters harvested are what Loo calls "less than desirable." Due to the drop in demand during the pandemic, Loo had to crowd cages, which led to misshapen oysters or poor shell development, which makes them unsuitable for commercial sale. Loo ordinarily sells his oysters to commercial wholesalers, but the oysters harvested on this day have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, approximately 12,000 from this farm on this day, and another 37,000 oysters from the same farm late last year, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
WESTPORT, MASSACHUSETTS - APR. 22, 2021. Toph Jusseaume is the owner and operator of Spindrift Oysters, a 3-acre oyster farming operation on the West Branch of the Westport River in Westport, Massachusetts. He is seen here at the Westport River Public Boat Ramp on Thu., April 22, 2021. Jusseaume says that during 2020, sales from his farm were down 90% from the previous year because of this drop in restaurant demand. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
FAIRHAVEN, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 20, 2021. Work gloves rest on a tote full of oysters as farmer Matt Loo of Round Island Shellfish heads out to dump approximately 12,000 oysters harvested that day into an environmental restoration area of Little Bay in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on Thu., May 20, 2021. Loo has been farming his one-person, three-acre operation since 2012, and estimates he spends five hours at his farm four days a week. He works at a larger oyster operation on Cape Cod on other days. During the coronavirus pandemic starting in 2020, Loo says his sales were off by 30 to 40 percent. "It went from 'Oh wow, this is gonna be a great year to restaurants closed. Nobody's buying anything," he says. The oysters harvested are what Loo calls "less than desirable." Due to the drop in demand during the pandemic, Loo had to crowd cages, which led to misshapen oysters or poor shell development, which makes them unsuitable for commercial sale. Loo ordinarily sells his oysters to commercial wholesalers, but the oysters harvested on this day have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, approximately 12,000 from this farm on this day, and another 37,000 oysters from the same farm late last year, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
FAIRHAVEN, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 20, 2021. Oyster farmer Matt Loo of Round Island Shellfish jumps from his boat as he harvests oysters from his Nasketucket Bay oyster farm in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on Thu., May 20, 2021. Loo has been farming his one-person, three-acre operation since 2012, and estimates he spends five hours at his farm four days a week. He works at a larger oyster operation on Cape Cod on other days. During the coronavirus pandemic starting in 2020, Loo says his sales were off by 30 to 40 percent. "It went from 'Oh wow, this is gonna be a great year to restaurants closed. Nobody's buying anything," he says. The oysters harvested are what Loo calls "less than desirable." Due to the drop in demand during the pandemic, Loo had to crowd cages, which led to misshapen oysters or poor shell development, which makes them unsuitable for commercial sale. Loo ordinarily sells his oysters to commercial wholesalers, but the oysters harvested on this day have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, approximately 12,000 from this farm on this day, and another 37,000 oysters from the same farm late last year, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
FAIRHAVEN, MASSACHUSETTS - APR. 22, 2021. Spindrift Oysters deckhand Aidan Corey rests against a bin filled with a portion of 15,000 freshly-harvested oysters on a boat in Little Bay in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on Thu., April 22, 2021. The oysters are part of a pilot ecological restoration program. The farmers harvested the oysters earlier that day from their farm in Westport, Mass., all of which were too big or misshapen for commercial sale due to an extreme drop in restaurant demand due to the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. Farmed oysters take two years to reach prime commercial saleability, and the drop in sales resulted in tens of thousands of oysters that grew too big for sale. Spindrift Oysters owner and operator Toph Jusseaume says that during 2020, sales from his farm were down 90% from the previous year because of this drop in restaurant demand. These oysters have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, which join another 20,000 oysters from the same farm a few months ago, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
FAIRHAVEN, MASSACHUSETTS - APR. 22, 2021. Spindrift Oysters deckhand Aidan Corey holds a rope as the company's oyster farming boat is taken out of the water after dumping 15,000 freshly-harvested oysters into Little Bay in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on Thu., April 22, 2021. The farmers harvested the oysters earlier that day from their farm in Westport, Mass., all of which were too big or misshapen for commercial sale due to an extreme drop in restaurant demand due to the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. The oysters are part of a pilot ecological restoration program. Farmed oysters take two years to reach prime commercial saleability, and the drop in sales resulted in tens of thousands of oysters that grew too big for sale. Spindrift Oysters owner and operator Toph Jusseaume says that during 2020, sales from his farm were down 90% from the previous year because of this drop in restaurant demand. These oysters have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, which join another 20,000 oysters from the same farm a few months ago, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
FAIRHAVEN, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 20, 2021. Oyster farmer Matt Loo of Round Island Shellfish pulls his boat around his oyster nursery as he harvests from his Nasketucket Bay oyster farm in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on Thu., May 20, 2021. Loo has been farming his one-person, three-acre operation since 2012, and estimates he spends five hours at his farm four days a week. He works at a larger oyster operation on Cape Cod on other days. During the coronavirus pandemic starting in 2020, Loo says his sales were off by 30 to 40 percent. "It went from 'Oh wow, this is gonna be a great year to restaurants closed. Nobody's buying anything," he says. The oysters harvested are what Loo calls "less than desirable." Due to the drop in demand during the pandemic, Loo had to crowd cages, which led to misshapen oysters or poor shell development, which makes them unsuitable for commercial sale. Loo ordinarily sells his oysters to commercial wholesalers, but the oysters harvested on this day have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, approximately 12,000 from this farm on this day, and another 37,000 oysters from the same farm late last year, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
WESTPORT, MASSACHUSETTS - APR. 22, 2021. A hook for grabbing oyster cage ropes hangs on the Spindrift Oysters farming boat while harvesting from the company's 3-acre farm in the West Branch of the Westport River in Westport, Massachusetts, on Thu., April 22, 2021. The oysters being harvested on this day are too big or misshapen for commercial sale due to an extreme drop in restaurant demand due to the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. Farmed oysters take two years to reach prime commercial saleability, and the drop in sales resulted in tens of thousands of oysters that grew too big for sale. Spindrift Oysters owner and operator Toph Jusseaume says that during 2020, sales from his farm were down 90% from the previous year because of this drop in restaurant demand. The oysters harvested on this day have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, 15,000 from this farm on this day, and another 20,000 oysters from the same farm a few months ago, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
FAIRHAVEN, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 20, 2021. Steve Kirk (in orange waders, blue gloves), a Coastal Restoration Ecologist with The Nature Conservancy, and oyster farmer Matt Loo of Round Island Shellfish dump a portion of approximately 12,000 oysters harvested that day from Loo's farm into an environmental restoration area of Little Bay in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on Thu., May 20, 2021. Loo has been farming his one-person, three-acre operation since 2012, and estimates he spends five hours at his farm four days a week. He works at a larger oyster operation on Cape Cod on other days. During the coronavirus pandemic starting in 2020, Loo says his sales were off by 30 to 40 percent. "It went from 'Oh wow, this is gonna be a great year to restaurants closed. Nobody's buying anything," he says. The oysters harvested are what Loo calls "less than desirable." Due to the drop in demand during the pandemic, Loo had to crowd cages, which led to misshapen oysters or poor shell development, which makes them unsuitable for commercial sale. Loo ordinarily sells his oysters to commercial wholesalers, but the oysters harvested on this day have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, approximately 12,000 from this farm on this day, and another 37,000 oysters from the same farm late last year, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
WESTPORT, MASSACHUSETTS - APR. 22, 2021. Deckhand Tony Wood stands near the dock before heading out to Spindrift Oysters' 3-acre farm for a harvest in the West Branch of the Westport River in Westport, Massachusetts, on Thu., April 22, 2021. The oysters being harvested on this day are too big or misshapen for commercial sale due to an extreme drop in restaurant demand due to the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. Farmed oysters take two years to reach prime commercial saleability, and the drop in sales resulted in tens of thousands of oysters that grew too big for sale. Spindrift Oysters owner and operator Toph Jusseaume says that during 2020, sales from his farm were down 90% from the previous year because of this drop in restaurant demand. The oysters harvested on this day have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, 15,000 from this farm on this day, and another 20,000 oysters from the same farm a few months ago, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
NEW BEDFORD, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 20, 2021. Oyster farmer Matt Loo of Round Island Shellfish loads new "Flow 'n Grow" floating oyster cages into his truck after buying them from Ketcham Supply, a trap mill and commercial fishing equipment supplier in New Bedford, Massachusetts, on Thu., May 20, 2021. Loo has been farming his one-person, three-acre operation in nearby Nasketucket Bay in Fairhaven, MA, since 2012, and estimates he spends five hours at his farm four days a week. He works at a larger oyster operation on Cape Cod on other days. During the coronavirus pandemic starting in 2020, Loo says his sales were off by 30 to 40 percent. "It went from 'Oh wow, this is gonna be a great year to restaurants closed. Nobody's buying anything," he says. The oysters harvested are what Loo calls "less than desirable." Due to the drop in demand during the pandemic, Loo had to crowd cages, which led to misshapen oysters or poor shell development, which makes them unsuitable for commercial sale. Loo says that he wasn't able to rotate his equipment as often as he'd like which led to needing to replace many of his cages Loo ordinarily sells his oysters to commercial wholesalers, but the oysters harvested on this day have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, approximately 12,000 from this farm on this day, and another 37,000 oysters from the same farm late last year, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
FAIRHAVEN, MASSACHUSETTS - MAY 20, 2021. Oyster farmer Matt Loo of Round Island Shellfish pulls oyster cages out of the water with a crane on his boat as he harvests oysters from his Nasketucket Bay oyster farm in Fairhaven, Massachusetts, on Thu., May 20, 2021. Loo has been farming his one-person, three-acre operation since 2012, and estimates he spends five hours at his farm four days a week. He works at a larger oyster operation on Cape Cod on other days. During the coronavirus pandemic starting in 2020, Loo says his sales were off by 30 to 40 percent. "It went from 'Oh wow, this is gonna be a great year to restaurants closed. Nobody's buying anything," he says. The oysters harvested are what Loo calls "less than desirable." Due to the drop in demand during the pandemic, Loo had to crowd cages, which led to misshapen oysters or poor shell development, which makes them unsuitable for commercial sale. Loo ordinarily sells his oysters to commercial wholesalers, but the oysters harvested on this day have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, approximately 12,000 from this farm on this day, and another 37,000 oysters from the same farm late last year, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
WESTPORT, MASSACHUSETTS - APR. 22, 2021. Spindrift Oysters deckhand Tony Wood steers the company's boat to the Westport River Public Boat Launch after harvesting 15,000 oysters from the company's 3-acre farm in the West Branch of the Westport River in Westport, Massachusetts, on Thu., April 22, 2021. The oysters being harvested on this day are too big or misshapen for commercial sale due to an extreme drop in restaurant demand due to the ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic. Farmed oysters take two years to reach prime commercial saleability, and the drop in sales resulted in tens of thousands of oysters that grew too big for sale. Spindrift Oysters owner and operator Toph Jusseaume says that during 2020, sales from his farm were down 90% from the previous year because of this drop in restaurant demand. The oysters harvested on this day have instead been purchased for use in the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration program partnership between The Nature Conservancy, Pew Charitable Trusts, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture. These oysters, 15,000 from this farm on this day, and another 20,000 oysters from the same farm a few months ago, were relocated to the Little Bay in Fairhaven, Mass., as part of a 1 acre pilot program to restore lost oyster reefs and increase filtration of the water. CREDIT: M. Scott Brauer for the New York Times
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