As Fresh As It Gets

by Vera Thornton

Florence Lowell, the owner of The Naked Oyster restaurant in Hyannis, has found a way to get the freshest oysters in town – grow your own! This past April the Town of Barnstable's Shellfish Committee unanimously approved the transfer of a grant for an oyster bed in Barnstable harbor to Florence, and after a public hearing was held with no dissension, she was granted the license. Now she is happily planting, growing, and harvesting the tasty little mollusks to use in the raw bar of The Naked Oyster. With her trusty skiff and the help of her son Julien Swanson, oysters are cleaned, sorted, and harvested daily. Like land farming, it takes alot of maintenence to develop the heathiest crop. The bed will provide up to 20,000 oysters for this season, and there are 250,000 seeds planted for the future. As Florence says, her oysters are harvested in the morning and eaten in the evening!

In addition to the benefits of consuming the freshest and tastiest possible shellfish, the green effect of growing oysters and clams, called aquaculture, is amazing. It is believed that shellfish can potentially improve water quality by consuming the phytoplankton whose unchecked growth releases nitrates into our water. As they feed, the oysters and clams actually clean the water, each one filtering about 15 gallons of water per day. That's a lot of filtering for a three-inch creature.

Many thanks to my friend Donna at lovely Brewster by the Sea, who tipped me off about Florence's new venture. Always looking for the insider information to share!

Photo Credit:
Photo #1 - Courtesy of Florence Lowell
Photo #2 & #3 - Courtesy of The Cape Cod Cooperative Extension