October16, 2014 โ Aquaculture farmers in Middle Township are riding the leading edge of an oyster renaissance, a Rutgers marine scientist said recently, and last week independent growers in the area got the vocal support of a federal lawmaker in their pursuit to revitalize a once-great state industry.
On Monday, Oct. 6, U.S. Rep. Frank LoBiondo stood on the shore of the Delaware Bay in Middle Township and grinned as he swallowed an oyster taken just moments earlier from the chilly waters.
โIt doesnโt get any better than this,โ LoBiondo said. โItโs a case of gathering information, with the added bonus of fresh oysters.โ
Not long ago, the lawmakerโs office reached out to Lisa Calvo, a Rutgers marine scientist working with eight oyster farmers in the township, and one in Cumberland County. Calvo said LoBiondo wanted to know more about the Cape May Oyster Cooperative, an organization of oyster growers incorporated earlier this year.
โIโve been interested in oysters on the bay for years and years and years,โ LoBiondo said. โItโs important for me to learn more of the real world aspects of oyster farming and what their challenges are.โ
The cooperative, Calvo said, brings growers together to share information and best practices.
During the tour of the area, LoBiondo noted that New Jerseyโs Port Norris was once known as the โoyster capital of the world,โ and that heโd like to the see the industry boom once again the state.
LoBiondo said that the best way to understand the business and the issues the growers face is to meet the people involved face-to-face, and last weekโs meeting with the growers aimed to get the lawmaker first-hand information on the difficulties oyster farmers faced.
On Monday, the lawmaker donned knee-high rubber boots, and joined oyster farmers as they gathered near Rutgers Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory on Delsea Drive in Cape May Court House.
โWe got started doing this in 1996 or โ97,โ Brian Harman said to LoBiondo. Harman is with Atlantic Cape Fisheries, and the companyโs โrack and bagโ way of farming oysters is the oldest operation in the area.
Read the full story from The Middle Township Gazette