Posted by Sarah Wolf, August 12, 2008 at 3:30 PM
The French seafood industry just can't get a break. First a violent herpes outbreak killed an estimated 80 percent of France's baby oysters, and now authorities fearing contamination by a poisonous microalgae have banned the sale and consumption of Arcachon Bay's oysters. Oyster producers, up in arms, are threatening to sue the government for permitting the bay to become polluted, reports the Independent. But after several French beaches were invaded by poisonous algae and jellyfish this summer, scientists have suggested that a rise in water temperature due to global warming may be the culprit.
The Independent suggests an easy test for raw oysters: "If an oyster is open, tap the shell. It should close right away. If it is unresponsive and the shell stays open, throw it away since it is most likely dead."
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Baby Oysters Dying Off in France
Posted by Emily Koh, July 22, 2008 at 10:30 AM
First honey bees, then snails, now this? Baby oysters are mysteriously dying by the millions along the French coast from Normandy to the Mediterranean, in what has become the worst crisis to hit the French oyster industry in 30 years.
There's speculation that warmer sea temperatures have generated more plankton and baby oysters are dying from eating too much of the tiny organisms. But that doesn't add up: why would adolescent and adult oysters remain unaffected? Why are some oyster beds completely killed off while others remain immune?
The impact on the French oyster industry could be devastating. Officials are assessing ways to change the harvesting process in the next several seasons, and the French government is expected to give emergency aid to oyster producers for new oyster "larva." While oyster-eating humans aren't at risk, the French Food Safety Agency is taking a closer look.
Posted by Robyn Lee, June 20, 2007 at 12:30 PM
In his latest post, Gerald takes us into the Crystal Seas oyster packing plant in Mississippi where each worker hand shucks 8-10 oysters a minute. The oysters are triple-rinsed before being collected in six pound buckets and the empty shells are planted back in the Gulf of Mississippi to become the new homes for next season's oysters. See more photos on Gerald's website, Foodite— I especially like the the ones of the oyster "waterfall."
Posted by Sarah Deming, February 14, 2007 at 11:50 AM
The judges are ringside, playing footsie. The shopping is done, the research is finished, and the fix, perhaps, is in.
In the blue corner, oysters, eight dozen of them. Hailing from Puget Sound by way of Wild Edibles in Manhattan and weighing in at really freaking heavy to carry to Brooklyn by subway. With an undefeated record stretching back to ancient Rome, the oyster looks plump and ready for action.
In the red corner, chocolate. From Peru by way of Jacques Torres. Weighing in at a tempered and ready two pounds, this scrappy challenger from the New World claims he got his fighting spirit from the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. He enters wearing a robe embroidered with the George Bernard Shaw quote “What use are cartridges in battle? I always carry chocolate instead.”
The referee explains the rules. Four couples have been selected to judge this match. They have been selected because they are the only friends of the author who agreed to do it. Strangely, some friends of the author were horrified at the thought of being publicly identified with pseudoscientific sexcapades.
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