SEAFOOD.COM NEWS [Cape Cod Times] — March 26, 2015 — The Cape and Islands is the epicenter of the Massachusetts oyster-growing industry, which has seen phenomenal growth in recent years. In 2010, Massachusetts shellfishermen and aquaculturists landed 2.9 million pounds of oysters worth $6.97 million. In 2012, that had boomed to 4.1 million pounds worth $11.6 million.
In 2015, the region will be host to the world's oyster experts and devotees, as the Cape was recently chosen as the site of the sixth annual International Oyster Symposium to be held in October, 2015.
"I thought it was a long shot, but we just heard last week they are coming and that's great for us, and great for them given the innovative things we are doing," said Wendy Northcross, chief executive officer of the Cape Cod Chamber of Commerce.
The chamber was one of the groups represented on a task force that met last summer on the Cape to put together a bid for the World Oyster Society to host the 2015 symposium.
Kahren Dowcett, of Yarmouth, an oyster society board member, presented the Cape's invitation at the oyster symposium held in Vietnam last year. Dowcett said approximately 250 exhibitors drew around 3,000 people to the event.
The oyster society's board approved the Cape's bid in December. Although plans are still being made, Dowcett said the symposium would bookend a Cape Cod Oyster Week that would kick off with the popular Wellfleet OysterFest in October 2015. She said the symposium would largely take place on the Upper Cape with the scientific research centers at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Marine Biological Laboratory participating. The oyster society will put out a request for scientific papers to be submitted to a reading committee for selection of what will be presented at the symposium, Dowcett said.
Dowcett made a presentation to the Barnstable County Commissioners last week.
"This could be bigger (than the Vietnam symposium)," said Bill Clark, director of the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension Service. "Given that it's here in the U.S. for the first time, it's likely to be a draw."
"It's a big coup for it to be coming to the Cape," said Michele Insley, director of Shellfish Promotion and Tasting, the parent organization for the Wellfleet OysterFest.
"There's a lot of scientists in our backyard, a large oyster community here and on the South Shore and right into Rhode Island."
Insley felt a week focused on oysters with the symposium and OysterFest would be a big draw both for those interested in science and gastronomy. Plus it would bring visitors from other parts of the globe to the Cape.
The World Oyster Society was established in 2005 to promote the sustainable growing of oysters, improve public knowledge of oysters, work on exploring how oysters can improve coastal water quality and the role of natural beds and cultured oysters in the biodiversity of coastal ecosystems. It has more than 400 members in 18 countries with significant aquaculture industries including Japan, Taiwan, China, Australia, Canada, France and the U.S.
The Cape task force will be meeting again in April to continue planning and outreach, Northcross said.
This story originally appeared on Seafood.com, a subscription site. It is reprinted with permission.