Environmental Concerns

You Can Eat (Some) Oysters, Again

Some oysters are better than others.
Some oysters are better than others. Photo: istockphoto

Last week we mentioned a story on the ScienceBog which stated that many oyster species are “functionally extinct,” due to over consumption and poor harvesting techniques. We were quickly notified by Carl Galvan, aka The Chicago Fish Dude at Supreme Lobster, who had a few issues with the original article. He helps supply oysters to some of the best restaurants in the city, and over e-mail he explained that while, “It’s true that early overfishing has had a negative impact on wild stocks…most oysters you are seeing really in any restaurant from Alinea to Shaw’s Crab House are cultivated using very progressive, environmentally conscious techniques.” What are these progressive techniques he’s talking about? Well, he details a few of them below.

When suppliers such as us do source Wild [oysters] we tend to lean to buying Diver Harvested, hand picked & graded oysters. We also keep a close eye on wild dredged oysters to make sure they’re A.) being pulled from areas that contain abundant healthy stocks and B.) Dredging operations are taking adequate precautions to not damage the natural environment with their methods. This ensures that we are providing our Chefs & in turn Chicago diners a beautiful & safe product to work with.

Now you know. He ended the e-mail be stating that he likes to “highlight the hard work that artisan fishermen & farmers do in order to help boost their example up to hopefully one day what could be the industry standard.”

You Can Eat (Some) Oysters, Again