Oyster Farming Gear Modification Test: Wood vs Plastic
Underwater flavor challenge pits a bay box against a standard oyster cage
We have a plastic cage. We have a wood cage. And we’re wondering if there’s going to be a taste difference. I think possibly there could be. Maybe not. I don’t know.
If I float this cage and that cage side by side, with the same exact oysters, hatched the same time, and we keep all the constraints together, do you think the oysters would taste different? We’re going to find out in 2021.
This wooden bay box, built by Michael Schermyer here in Westhampton Beach, is facing off against the plastic cage (below) in a see-what-happens flavor test at our oyster farm in Peconic Bay. (Screen grabs from S4E17, YouTube LIVE)
We’re going to have Michael on the LIVE show and give him the accolades he is due. He’s on a mission to reduce plastic waste.
Now me, the commercial guy, we use plastic. We use a lot of it. And I, and all of us as oyster farmers, must be conscientious; reduce, reuse, and recycle. Take zip ties, for example. We use zip ties pretty regularly and nothing pisses me off any more than when I see them on the ground. You’ve got to use zip ties sparingly and smartly. We use them for holding the floats onto the cages, like the one in on the left, among other chores and projects.
Michael’s bay box doesn’t use zip ties, so there’s something to be said here. And we’re going to check it out. I think the concept is cool, and I can’t wait to see the results.
Are the oysters going to taste different? Who knows. But you know what? We’re going to have a lot of fun trying it out. If the bay box oysters come out with a cedar smoky taste, I am going to be flabbergasted. It would be a unique flavor attribute of that oyster.
Oysters grown in different spots do have different tastes. If that’s true about a taste difference in side-by-side cages, then I’m going out to my garden, whack out a bunch of garlic, and start throwing garlic into my oyster cages. See what happens then. Who knows, you know?
