After 'devastating' virus, California oyster farmer confident in industry's return

Record ID: 1554813

  • Title: After 'devastating' virus, California oyster farmer confident in industry's return
  • Date: 30th May 2020
  • Summary: MARSHALL, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES (MAY 22, 2020) (REUTERS) PAN OF TAMALES BAY BOAT IN BAY BOAT MOTORING THROUGH BAY PAN FROM HOG ISLAND OYSTER CO. SIGN TO CO-FOUNDER TERRY SAWYER AT HELM WITH COLLEAGUE BOAT PULLING UP TO OYSTER FARM VARIOUS OF OYSTER FARM EMPLOYEES (SOUNDBITE) (English) TERRY SAWYER, CO-FOUNDER OF HOG ISLAND OYSTER CO., SAYING: "Never experienced anythi
  • Embargoed: 13th June 2020 15:00
  • Keywords: California California aquaculture Hog Island Oyster Co. Hog Island oysters Tamales Bay coronavirus health oyster farms oysters pandemic
  • Location: MARSHALL, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • City: MARSHALL, CALIFORNIA, UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Health/Medicine
  • Reuters ID: LVA001CG4F6TJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: While most businesses across the U.S. remained shuttered amid the coronavirus pandemic this spring, the water tanks at Hog Island Oyster Co. in northern California continued buzzing and bubbling with activity.
    That's because as an oyster farm with four leases totalling 160 acres across the picturesque Tomales Bay, co-founder Terry Sawyer had plenty of work to stay busy.
    "When you have something that takes anywhere from a year to three years to get to market size once you plant it, you can't just ignore it," Sawyer said.
    While the company had to furlough 90% of its more than 300 staff members across its six eateries and nursery, the farm, which has called the bayside town of Marshall home for 37 years, continued to employ a skeleton crew on site for the farming maintenance.
    The work includes motoring out to spots on the Bay, including a lease off Toms Point where they're cultivating virginica oysters, raising from the water mesh bags containing the oyster seeds, inspecting and cleaning the bags so that the seeds' growth is not impeded by other organisms, and more.
    It's all necessary, Sawyer said, so that they can maintain consistency in their oysters, which include the sweetwater Pacific, the European flat, and Atlantic, among others.
    "If we can't get out there to do this work, some of them will die because they've been too crowded. They'll be misshapen. They'll have to go back out as a return. You're having to handle them a lot more. And then on the sort, you're actually having to do a lot more work. So it all translates -- that effect of slowing down all the handling will affect us again for months to a year, maybe even years later," he said.
    During harvest, the oysters are brought back on shore and sorted by size - extra small half-shell oysters for raw bars and larger sizes for grilling. They're then bagged for wholesale and typically sold to the Hog Island Oyster Co. restaurants and other eateries in the Bay Area.
    The oysters are also available for consumers to purchase directly at their Marshall headquarters, sales of which Sawyer said had grown stronger during the shelter order. Lines at that location have required Sawyer to ensure customers are abiding by social distancing.
    With restaurants shut down for dining, Hog Island was forced to adapt. Their brand new Larkspur location, which opened in March, began with pick-up and to-go orders. They also used their kitchens for meal kits for pick-up and delivery in Marin and Sonoma counties. Shipped their oysters nationally has also expanded. The company previously only shipped during holidays but now does so every week.
    Revenue at Hog Island has dropped two-thirds since the beginning of the year, forcing pay cuts as well as furloughs, Sawyer said.
    Hog Island was hardly alone in the aquaculture community to experience such a decline. A survey by the California Aquaculture Association of its members found that 91% of respondents had been "significantly impacted by COVID-19" with sales declines ranging from 50% to 95%.
    But as the state starts to reopen and more businesses are permitted under public health orders to operate, Sawyer hopes they'll be able to bring back more staff and expand its offerings as its restaurants.
    This experience has been unlike anything he's ever been through, but he's confident that they'll get through it.
    "We love ideas, different ways to create recipes and get food to the customer. We like to eat. We enjoy preparing food. We enjoy producing food. And because of all the years of trying to figure out ways to like to make it happen. That ingenuity, that creativity, that enthusiasm, that passion is still there."
    (Production: Nathan Frandino)
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