Lately, Louisiana residents have worried that their lunchtime oyster and shrimp poboys, or sandwiches, are torpedoing the weekly budget. After a series of calamities in recent years, Louisiana shellfish is expensive and won't become cheaper anytime soon, industry members say.
If you want oysters on hand for Thanksgiving, shop for them early, advises Mike Voisin, chief executive of Motivat Seafoods in Houma, La. and member of the Louisiana Oyster Task Force.
The state's dockside oysters are fetching $30 per 100-pound sack, which is near their all-time highs in past adversities, said Byron Encalade, president of Louisiana Oystermen Association in Pointe a la Hache. "We usually see a slight price drop when the season opens in the fall but that's unlikely to happen this year," he said. "We'll have an influx of oysters at the start of the season, and it will be tough after that." He believes supplies will be adequate for local customers but there won't be much to ship and prices will rise.
Louisiana's oyster season runs from September to next August. The opening of public seed grounds was postponed from Oct. 17 to Oct. 31 at the latest, so that sampling for Natural Resource Damage Assessment studies following the BP spill can continue, said Olivia Watkins, spokeswoman for the Louisiana Dept. of Wildlife and Fisheries. "The delay doesn't impact private leases, which are still providing oysters for the commercial industry," she said.
To read the rest of the story, please go to: Huffington Post