Shucked: Life on a New England Oyster Farm

by Erin Byers Murray

As with wine, he told me, the source of an oyster’s flavor comes from the precise location where it’s grown. They called it “merroir.”

And that word “merroir.” I wanted to know that sense of place.

Directly in front of that sat Clark’s Island; Skip pointed it out, explaining that the Pilgrims actually landed there before reaching Plymouth.

First, find a really good shucking knife. Island Creek uses a French brand called Déglon, which is what I learned to shuck with and will never go back. With its supersharp blade and plastic handle, it’s sturdy and works efficiently.

Oysters themselves are incredible for the environment: They filter up to forty gallons of water per day, a process that cleans the water of impurities like carbon and nitrogen, which find their way into the water from runoff and lawn fertilizers. During my first visit to the farm the previous summer, Shore had impressed me with the fact that because there are now so many Island Creek oysters on the bottom of Duxbury Bay, the bay itself is completely filtered every nine days.

All oysters are sequentially hermaphroditic, she explained, meaning they can change sex by becoming male or female based on the needs of their particular environment (if there are too many males around, an oyster will switch to female and vice versa).

Oyster farming is one of the most sustainable types of food farming on the planet.

M. F. K. Fisher was placed on one wall, the hall’s second inductee, with the simple words “Author, Consider the Oyster” printed on a plaque beneath her photo. It was her book that first ignited my literary curiosity for oysters with its attention-grabbing opener: “An oyster leads a dreadful but exciting life.” Standing beneath her gaze gave me goose bumps.

There would be Island Creeks, of course, but he and Jeremy wanted to find representations of all five oyster species: Easterns, Pacifics, Kumamotos, Olympias, and Belons.

The real difference between where I was when I started and where I am now is actually something I learned from Skip. He taught me that no matter what it is you want to do, do it to the fullest and always find a way to have fun. If you enjoy growing oysters, grow oysters. But make sure you’re enjoying every minute of it. If you want to write, then write. And write about what you love. Go after what you want and work hard for it. But never stop dreaming big.