For the first time in its more than 130-year Louisiana history, the oldest oyster dealer in the U.S. is thinking the unthinkable – importing foreign oysters to meet the demand of New Orleans residents and visitors alike.
Al Sunseri, co-owner of the French Quarter’s P&J Oyster Company and a member of the Gulf Oyster Industry Council and the Louisiana Oyster Task Force, has already resorted to importing oysters from neighboring Gulf States, as well as the East Coast, to subsidize demand for the tasty mollusk.
“Louisiana’s most prolific public oyster beds in the Pontchartrain basin has been almost completely non-productive since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster,” explained Sunseri, taking a break from unloading 100 pound oyster sacks. “To put it plainly, for the first time in my 35 year career there aren’t going to be enough oysters to go around by the end of summer. By early fall only shell oysters will be available with very few, if any, fresh shucked Gulf oysters.”
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