Oyster Guy

That was my buddy John Bil who is also the 3 time Canadian Oyster shucking champion and one of my co-shuckers way back in the day. Check out his website www.keeponshucking.com Johnny Flynn is an oyster grower who grows the incredible Colville Bay oyster in PEI. I emailed him after watching the show telling him to work on his razor opening! I highly endorse the CBC Radio One show. Both my buddy Adam and Brent appear on it and it is very well done and researched. I hope you listen to it, Zuke. Great show. Keep on shucking Oyster Guy P.S. Zuke, my friend and I will be on Bob Blummer's new show coming out this year. It is called "Glutton for Punishment." He starts this show with plenty of punishment! He sets out to become a champion oyster shucker in just 1 week! Yeah, good luck on that, pal! John and I got to harass him while he shucked oysters at Joe Forte's oyster bar where he learned the trade under the educated knife of "Oyster Bob" Skinner. He at one point reminded us that it was his show not ours! Hey, if you can't take the heat...........

I can't tell you why they went out of business but the lack of a domestic market does have a lot to do with the present problems in the industry. Let's just hope that people become a little more aware of what we have and more importantly, what we have to lose. Keep on shucking Oyster Guy

Original Gangsta: Is it that the process takes so much longer with this way of encouraging the deeper cup growth that prevents it from being used widely? If there is so much less product loss, wouldn't the net (sorry!) gains be the same as tumbing and losing 40% product? Is it still an unsustainable financial loss then to produce Kusshis et. al. this way? And Claudiak, I think that oysters are available at many establishments even those that are not billed as 'seafood' places, of which there are many in this city. Perhaps the reason we are unwilling to pay fair market price for oysters in particular is that we are in general spoiled by the price point vs. quality we have experienced for years in Vancouver vs. other cities. It is a point of pride for our city, but perhaps we are eating ourselves alive?? ← That's it in a nutshell. It takes too long using the net method when demand for the oyster is so high. So you are forced to use mechanical means in order to meet market demand. They all need the price increase not just small boutique farmers like Brent. But the bigger aquaculturing operations as well. Fanny Bay went out of business last year and they were huge. Keep on shucking (and eating BC oysters) Oyster Guy

They do it for a deeper, plumper oyster. The water it is grown in actually affects the taste and the Kusshi are grown in the Gorge Harbour near Brent's rafts. It's in the pictures. The main oyster species grown out here (in fact in the world) is Crassostrea gigas. There are some of the native oysters, Ostrea lurida, the Olympia oyster left and they are growing some European Flats up in Powell River. There are other ways of achieving the same round shape and depth of the Kusshi. Cylindrical nets in the intertidal zone. Place the oysters inside. Tide comes in, oyster lift up. Tide goes out over 6 hours, wave and tidal action tumbles the oysters slowly but with much less product loss. They never mix species in a tumbler. Oysters, like snowflakes, are never alike. Some will grow thicker shells faster than others. And using mechanical means is always anything but gentle and subtle. This is a living creature after all. It would be the equivilent of getting in the clothes dryer and going around for a few spins. Not a lot of fun And you're welcome Keep on shucking Oyster Guy P.S. Some of the kids I've worked with have called me "The Original Gangsta."

Thank you! I also support an increase of the dockside price of oysters to cover not only the increased fuel prices that we all suffer from but the simple fact that guys like Brent and others are putting their ass on the line to fish and farm them. I am petitioning as well as other oyster shuckers across this fair land, to get the farmers their request of a mere 10 cents an oyster more. Right now, fish distributors in this province (who shall remain nameless) pay the oyster fishermen as low as 18 cents an oyster. 3 years or more of back breaking work for 18 cents? I'd like to see a 25 cent increase personally but I want it to happen. I believe I mentioned earlier in this thread how I thought it was a shame that a city with Vancouver's proximity and product availability was home to only 2 hardworking oyster houses. (Joe's and Rodney's) I am glad you talked to Brent. He is a true oyster revolutionary! He is also a wealth of information, if you can get a word in edgewise Laura, the reason the Kusshi is an expensive oyster to produce. Not only for the reasons above but also the fact that to get that plump little oyster to look the way it does involves a technique called "tumbling." They put the oysters in a tumbler (basically a cement mixer) and tumble the oysters in order to limit the length and increase the depth of the oyster by constantly chipping the external growth of the oyster away. The Pacific or Japanese oyster (Crassostrea gigas) will naturally grow longer and with a shallower cup. The Kusshi is a member of this species. But, tumbling causes the oysters to smash together and the thinner shelled oysters frankly don't stand a chance. They can lose up to 40% of their crop by using this method sometimes and that is why you usually have to pay more. It is more labour-intensive to grow and the yield is less. I, for one hope that they continue to grow the Kusshi but we will see. I am trying, in my own small way, to try to educate the public to what is happening to a lot of oyster growers on the Coast and making people aware. Keep on shucking Oyster Guy

The only downside they encountered was the waste product that all living creatures produce as a part of the digestion of the food they eat. But, recently a good number of oyster farmers have been suspending trays under their oyster rafts and raising sea cucumber on them. The sea cucumber seem to thrive quite nicely on what the oysters send their way and provide another cash crop for the farmer This was thought up at the Pacific Research Station in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Thank you to all the researchers and marine biologists working there. British Columbia is leading the way in oyster and other shellfish aquaculture. There are various problems that oyster growers run into, overflowing septic tanks from vacation properties, boat owners who dump their toilets into the bays they anchor in overnight are the preventable ones I can think of. Road construction by estuaries and pulp and paper mills aren't good either. But the awareness is growing and people are trying to consider the lowly oyster. Shellfish aquaculture is the only sustainable aquaculture there is at this present time. They not only clean the water they are in but also provide food and shelter for other marine life. In essence, when you have an oyster raft, you are creating an artificial reef. And it's a lot cleaner than sinking some old nasty battleship or plane Glad it helped Laura Keep on shucking Oyster Guy

Thank you everyone for your kind words I am touched. I just wanted to share one of my oyster experiences with the group and I am pleased it was so well recieved. Thanks! Keep on shucking Oyster Guy

I don't get to spend as much time as I'd like to doing this, Daddy-A. Just a few months a year If you are interested in something like this, they do run an oyster tour out of Campbell River. It is run by Clearwater Marine Tours and you can book a shellfish farm or a custom marine tour depending on what you want. Their website is www.clearwatermarinetours.com Most oyster farmers are more than happy to give you a quick tour of their farms and this sort of thing has become very popular. Sort of like visiting the vineyards in the Okanagan or California. You can also contact my friend Brent at www.theoysterman.com if you would like to sometime join us on one of our oyster "campouts." I'd be more than pleased to have your company as would Brent. Hope this helps Keep on shucking Oyster Guy P.S. Arne, a lot of people sit at my oyster bar and tell me what a tough job it must be to shuck oysters all the time. I like to think of their comments when I am out on the farm and agree with them. Yeah, it's a tough job but somebody's got to do it. And it might as well be me!

An ultimate oyster experience for me in pictures and words. I hope that I will not be too long winded and bore you with too many details. So here goes.... My friend and mentor Adam (Oyster Boy) had come out for a visit for his birthday this last October and I went to meet him on Vancouver Island. We planned to go visit our oyster growing friend and supplier, Brent Petkau, on Cortes Island and spend the night at the cabin on Marina Island where Brent's oyster lease is. The ferry ride from Campbell River to Quadra Island usually takes 10 minutes but due to the storm that had blown in, it took 30 that day. We were warned that we might not be able to make it to Cortes due to the sea conditions but being the dedicated oystermen we are, we pushed forth anyways. It started to get windy as we got out of the lee of Quadra Island and headed for open water. It was an exciting experience and made me feel very alive inside. As I hung on for dear life as the boat was bucking like a wild horse. It made me appreciate the fact that men would go to sea in these conditions and worse in just wooden boats and under sail. It was a real rush and the ferry crew thought we were nuts being out on the deck! We got safely to Cortes Island and on arriving in Whaletown at Brent's place, the weather had changed again and became very peaceful all of a sudden. Brent wanted to wait just a little longer for the water to calm down and after our own experience, we were more than happy with his decision. It also gave us time to have a quick oyster snack and a can or two of Guiness while we waited for the winds to die down a little. Luckily, Brent had the oysters right there anticipating our arrival and appetite size as well. After packing our gear into Brent's boat, consisting of food, wet weather gear, gum boots and plenty of Guiness and numerous bottles of wine, we were off. Even though the wind had died down, the water was still roiling and the crossing from Cortes to Marina was almost as exciting as the ferry ride had been. On the way, Brent told us of the time he got caught in a riptide off Cape Mudge on Quadra Island and how he had thought that he was going to die. It did nothing to reassure us but it did give me a much deeper respect for the guys and women who go down to the sea in ships. To think of people putting their ass on the line so that I can eat oysters...... We got over to Marina Island and there I saw the famous "Oyster Cabin". It was originally built by a Vietnam draft dodger back in the 70's and was really well designed. It may not look like much from the outside but it was very warm and comfortable inside. Once we had hauled our gear from the beach to the cabin, we settled in for the night and my mentor and best friend Adam showed me he can still kick my ass shucking. We prepared a small but tasty feast using the fresh oysters, some of Brent's smoked oysters, some triple smoked wild boar bacon that Micheal Stadtlander had sent with Adam for us on our trip and of course, copious amounts of refreshing beverages to wash it down with. (Adam, Brent and Micheal are working on a "wee project" on Micheal's farm over the Valentine's Day period. I hope that the Food Channel has a camera or two there as it would be very interesting to see what they got up to.) There we were, Brent (The Oyster Man), me (The Oyster Guy) and Adam, being the youngest of us, The Oyster Boy. After talking and drinking and eating, we settled in for the night and made our sleeping arrangements. The next morning was beautiful and the water was like a pane of glass. As soon as it was low tide, we were off to the "oyster ranch" and ready to work. We came across these 2 beauties as soon as we set foot on Brent's lease. These are his broodstock oysters. They are his breeders for when he goes to the hatchery to get his seed oysters. He will place them in warm water tanks and they will start spawning and he can collect the oyster larvae when the oysters expell it from their shells. These are also typical of what a beach grown oyster will look like. Rough, thick shell with all sorts of barnacles and other sea life on them. It gets that way from being tossed around by the waves and tidal action. We also noticed that we were not the only ones on Marina Island. Brent also shares this island with a pack of 16 Coastal wolves and although they remained out of sight, we did hear them at night and found their tracks all over the beach. After a couple of hours of hauling clams and oysters back down the beach from where they had been tossed by the storm the previous night, we were getting hungry. But how can you starve in the midst of plenty when you have an oyster knife? If you have never picked up an oyster from the beach and shucked it and eaten right there, it is almost totally indescribable! So fresh, a good cold hit of the sea on your lips, crisp firm texture of the meat between your teeth and the lingering watermelon finish as you toss the shell away to be fought over by baby crabs. It just doesn't get much better than this with all your clothes on! We headed back to the cabin for fritatas and coffee and after re-packing the boat, we took a quick trip over to the oyster rafts in Gorge Harbour on Cortes Island to try some line and tray grown oysters. We pulled alongside the floating oyster rafts and tied up. Brent pulled up some line grown oysters and we broke a couple off and ate them. We also pulled up some tray grown ones as well. These are protected from wave and tidal action and have much more fragile shells than the beach grown oyster. (I just wanted to show Laura F the differences I was talking about) These are how the line oysters look coming out of the water. In the harbour there were also a grading and harvesting raft and some setting tanks. I am only going into a little detail so that you can understand their function. The harvester and grading table are set so that you pull the line up and as you break the oysters off the bleached shells they have set on, you can grade them according to size and shape and age. You can also transfer them to trays to deep water culture them (sink the trays down so that they feed on more zooplankton than phytoplankton) The setting tanks are used to set oyster larvae onto bleached oyster shells. The tanks are filled with warm seawater and bleached oyster shells are placed on the bottom of the tank. The oyster larvae is then put into the tanks and it attaches itself to the oyster shells in the tank. (Oyster larvae are free-swimming for the first 2 weeks of their life until they find a nice rock or shell to call home and settle on it) Once the shells have been set with oyster seed, they are intertwined in strands of rope and hung from the floating rafts. After about a year, they are harvested and graded and moved to the beach for hardening (being tossed around from the waves and tides to produce a thicker shelled oyster) or to the deep water culturing trays. This is what setting tanks look like. Well, I just wanted to share this with the rest of you and maybe teach you a little bit about how your food is grown. Hope you have enjoyed it as much as I did. Keep on shucking Oyster Guy

Personally I feel Joanne Kates brings on most of the bad service herself. She constantly whines about bad attitudes and says nothing of her own atrocious attitude. While bad service in Toronto establishments might seem prevelant, I have always had rather good service from servers in Toronto. Then again, I don't have Joanne's lack of diplomacy either. The woman will harrass servers and is generally an embarassment to have dining in your establishment. I find even her writing very condescending but no surprise, she is like that in person too. I have never seen a review of her own place called Arrowhon Pines in Ontario and would be curious to see how she would fare. Has anyone seen one? I was about to take a cooking job there until I found out who owned it and quit before I started. Just my two cents. Keep on shucking Oyster Guy

Welcome aboard Claudiak! Always nice to hear from a new member and a fellow oyster lover. Your posts brought back some memories for me. Rodney's Oyster House in Toronto is where I started my career in oysters back in 1987. (Not it's present location but it's old location on Adelaide Street East) Those were some good times at that bar. The old one was made of black Italian granite and was beautifully designed. (Other than whenever you opened the beer fridge, you sacked a co-worker ) But I am very happy to hear that my old friend and mentor is still doing well. We are both busy with our own projects and don't always have time to talk. It was where I "cut my teeth" learning how to shuck as well as other things. It was also the place I fell in love with the briny denizens of the deep and the first place I ever ate raw oysters in my life. Rodney rewarded me for returning his wallet that I found on the street and gave me a dozen raw New London Bay Malpeques and offered me a job. It was the beginning of a new life and a rather exciting one at that. Thanks for taking me back almost twenty years and reminding me of my roots. Keep on shucking Oyster Guy

This is Lorna's new (and first) oyster knife that I custom sharpened for her and is being sent to her in the mail. I ground off an eighth of an inch off both sides of the blade and removed the guard as it does not allow you to see the point of the knife while working and henceforth it isn't very safe to leave the guard on. I really hope she likes it. Note: Even on the work schedule underneath the knife, I am called OG Keep on shucking Oyster Guy

These are my oyster knives. I have never liked the way they come out of the box and I have always custom ground and sharpened my oyster knives to my personal preference. While they aren't as pretty as Ducky's, they are very functional nonetheless. The middle one is my all-purpose Richard which I have custom sharpened myself and is good for opening all types of oysters. This is the one I use the most and for competitions. (It says "Shuck this" on the handle ) The black handled one is one given to me by the shuckers at Elliot's Oyster House in Seattle and is very good for most oysters except the smaller ones. The other wooden handled knife is a present from my chef from her trip to San Fran and is an excellent knife to open the thinner shelled tray oysters. I would love to give Ducky's a spin though. Keep on shucking Oyster Guy

It was fabulous! I'll always remember it! Chris--can't wait for my own oyster knife! OK last picture...my friend just sent over a few more pictures of our trip. Here's the oyster I shucked! ← This is exactly why I would hire her for an oyster shucker. Look at how nicely this oyster is shucked. No shell, no punctured stomach and most importantly, none of her blood. Beautifully presented too, I might add! Your knife will be in your hands soon, Lorna. Keep on shucking Oyster Guy

I'm going to work. An oyster shucker getting Valentine's Day off? Just doesn't happen. Well, I guess there is a downside to selling aphrodisiacs for a living! It is my night from hell. But I hope that everyone else has a great and romantic dinner that night. All the best to the rest of you for this evening! Keep on shucking Oyster Guy

Being a beer drinker, I can't really help you out, Jamie. But I will ask one of my extended family at work and let you know their choices. Keep on shucking Oyster Guy

Nothing sexier for me than a beautiful woman holding a large bladed weapon! Great pictures, Donald! It was a joy to have you and Lorna at the bar. Come back anytime! Keep on shucking P.S. The brownies you brought me were fantastic, Lorna. No, there wasn't too much fleur de sel on them. Thank you for being so kind to this oyster shucker!

Lorna did such a good job that I would gladly hire her as my "oyster padawan" anyday of the week. She also looks really good behind the bar! Lorna, thanks again for coming out. It was a lot of fun! I will be making an oyster knife for you in the near future. Keep on shucking Oyster Guy

Yes, unfortunately it is and it is the main reason I left their employ years ago. It gets very tired after awhile and I prefer to educate people about oysters rather than irritate them with bad music selections. I agree that they should institute a "people who want to be left alone to enjoy the damm oysters hour" too. The oysters are always good and that makes putting up with the "frat boys" a little easier. Keep on shucking Oyster Guy P.S. Stovetop, you are a man after my own heart and thanks for the beautiful memory that you have shared with us. You are most welcome at my oyster bar in Whistler anytime, sir!

Check out www.bearfootbistro.com for a sample of what she can do.

Try A'los. My executive chef will be cooking there and her food is incredible. Her name is Melissa Craig and you won't be disappointed. Hope you find something you like, Moose.

Nicely done, Neil! My hat's off to you, chef.

Just FYI: Greg Atkinson invented Merroir. “Merroir is a term I coined to describe the flavor of the sea that is found in an oyster. Since every oyster carries in its shell a little of its home waters, and since the content of that water varies from one location to another, oysters —even if they are genetically identical — all tastes different. The term was intended of course to reflect the term terroir which refers to the unique flavor of that foods -- and especially wine grapes -- are said to carry, depending on where they were grown. The article in which the phrase was printed appeared in last June’s issue of Food Arts magazine and the story won a National Association of Food Journalism Award. Greg Atkinson Culinary Consulting 5190 Eagle Harbor Drive Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 (206) 842-5756 www.northwestessentials.com ← Thank you very much for the information. I do appreciate it. It just seems strange to me that when I heard this phrase for the first time, it was 3 years ago, long before this article was published. Was it just written at the time of publication or had it been written long ago? I am just wondering about the origin of the term. I never claimed that I or anyone else invented it. Merely whom I had heard it from the first time in my life. Thanks again for your help. Keep on shucking Oyster Guy

We all have different likes and dislikes in life and may not agree on much. I think that humanity could learn a lot from the oyster. It is a humble creature asking for nothing but clean water. It has been on Earth for 150 million years (fossilized record) It shared the planet with Tyranosaurs and Velociraptors. It has survived 5 extinction level events that wiped out 96% of life on this ball of rock. Homo sapiens on the other hand have only been present for on Earth for a mere 3 million years. This little creature has shown adaptability, a clearly superior survival strategy and improves the evironment that it lives in. (Being a filter feeder, a medium sized oyster can filter 80 litres of water a day) Something, that for all of mankind's wisdom and intelligence us humans are unable to do. We might all not like the same type of oyster, Memo but it is truly a creature worthy of our respect, whether we like one's taste over another. I am happy to hear people like the Effingham Inlets. I am happy to hear anyone enjoy oysters Keep on shucking Oyster Guy

I also suggest Behind the Grind rather than Starbuck's. It has a nice warm feel and is very non-corporate yet professional. Chris the owner is a genuinely nice guy and his prices are cheaper than Starbuck's (They raised their prices and stated it was to cover the high rents in town. Chris also pays the same high rent yet refused to raise his prices) It is too bad you can't eat oysters. But...... I suggest you give Elements in the Summit Lodge on Main Street a try. (See my earlier threads for more info) The Bearfoot has a casual dining side that is comparable in pricing to many chain restaurants and the food is soooooo much better. A good pub for lunch is the Cinnamon Bear Bar in the Hilton. A longtime locals favourite and great food and very comfortable leather chairs and a roaring fire. I think you would enjoy it. Anyways, I hope that you have a good time in our little town and enjoy yourself! Keep on shucking Oyster Guy