
As Nova Scotia entered another lockdown last month, we heard renewed calls to wash your hands, keep your distance, and stay the blazes home. Alongside those public health imperatives, we also heard a familiar call to action: support local businesses impacted by the shutdown. One in particular piqued my interest; my favourite local eatery was looking to offload its weekend shellfish order, calling on patrons to order live oysters for takeout.
We don’t usually think of live oysters as a “takeout food,” but this restaurant had hit on an elegant solution to a pressing need; after all, oysters don’t last forever, and they weren’t going to be selling any at happy hour anytime soon. I was happy to support this business while also enjoying a delicious appetizer as we began another period of isolation at home.
However, this unusual sale is just the tip of a much larger issue. A lot of seafood is consumed in restaurants (31 per cent of seafood in the US, by weight), so when restaurants closed during lockdown, producers that sell the majority of their product to restaurants were left without buyers. That’s especially true of high value fish and bivalves which are viewed by many as meals reserved for eating in restaurants.
As an internationally traded commodity, aquaculture was also impacted on a global scale as restrictions and border closures disrupted global markets. Although panic buying in the early days of the pandemic along with a shift to cooking at home led to increased demand for canned, processed, and frozen seafood, overall demand remains uncertain – leading producers to contemplate future stocking levels. In the case of oysters, that means considering how much spat (tiny oysters) to source for the next 18-24 month growing cycle. Because aquaculture farms need to make decisions now about what they will sell in six months, a year, or more, changes to demand in the present could lead to supply disruptions later.
There’s never been a better time to order seafood from a local restaurant or shuck an oyster at home. And if you need a little more encouragement, here’s my favourite accompaniment to a local live oyster: a tangy and fresh mignonette.
Basic Mignonette:
- ¼ cup vinegar (red wine, rice, or white balsamic – something bright)
- 1 tbsp minced shallot
- Freshly ground pepper (white if you have it!) to taste
- Drizzle over freshly shucked oysters, and enjoy a very happy hour at home!
Photo by Thomas John on Unsplash