Oyster diving?

[runsongas]

@Eric Sedletzky weather is worse and the vis in the chesapeake makes half moon bay look good. the crab cakes and wawa ain't worth it.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Wow! Brilliant! (as @Happy Diver would say.
I get mine in the town of Marshall at a place called Hog Island Oyster Co. in Tomales Bay.
The medium size are $2 a piece so it adds up fast.
They are pretty damn good. I eat several raw then cook up the rest.
As I’m doing research with Department of Fish and Wildlife, you can take oysters but there are many restrictions including no use of scuba or surface supplied air (hookah). So that means wading in intertidal zones and/or snorkelling/freediving. Our oysters are also not native, they are an east coast variety that were planted here but they thrive. The native ones were harvested to extinction many years ago.
It sounds like you are in a much better place for oysters. Maybe I should move to Maryland?

Yes Sir, I've gotten to the point where I won't / can't buy them at a restaurant. We can go to the local market and get them. Depending on type (species?) its anywhere from $60-$150 for a box (which is supposed to be 100 but I've never counted... too busy eating!). For $60 I'll get a box, they are considered "local" oysters, but are much smaller then anything I find in the wild. I won't buy the more expensive ones, I'm happy with locals. I just can't bring myself to buy shucked oysters knowing I can do it faster and get them bigger then the guy behind the counter.

I would assume all the "box" oysters are farmed as they're much cleaner then anything from the bottom. I don't care how dirty the outside is, it's what's on the inside that counts! And the insides are always very clean.

My grandfather, who is the man that turned me onto oysters ever since I can remember, says he can remember living in Baltimore being able to go to the market downtown at 5am and get an entire large bushel for $3. He said one of those would hold anywhere from 200-300 oysters depending on there size!! He says the oysters I bring him are the closest thing that he's had in years that resemble the way things used to be.

Technically you're allowed 100 pp per Sat from the hours of 8am-12pm... but if my kids are on board they count as people!! I love it, probably one of my favorite things to do in the winter.

Here's me and my boys out on the boat. Man.. can't wait for October to get here!

 

[rob.mwpropane]

@Eric Sedletzky weather is worse and the vis in the chesapeake makes half moon bay look good. the crab cakes and wawa ain't worth it.

This is true. Not sure what bad viz is in California, but "good" viz in the bay is being able to see your fingertips on an outstretched arm. Thankfully all the oysters are in ~ 15' or so, so it's still pretty bright. It is not for the faint of heart!

 

[runsongas]

that just sounds like russian roulette with shellfish poisoning, buying oysters off Donnie from Dundalk

 

[rob.mwpropane]

that just sounds like russian roulette with shellfish poisoning, buying oysters off Donnie from Dundalk

Now, in this moment in time?... sure, I agree 100%. I live out in the county and we all drink tea with our pinkies in the air! My grandfather's stories are from 50 years ago. There was a time when Baltimore was blue collar and not full of such poverty, there was a "good ole days"... where I live might as well be on a different planet. Corn fields and tractors!

 

[RyanT]

I live out in the county and we all drink tea with our pinkies in the air!

Ahh, ha! I think someone I know accused me of doing this!

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Ahh, ha! I think someone I know accused me of doing this!

It's because it takes one to know one!

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

You’re super lucky that you can go out and get that many quality oysters!

At Hog Island I can get a bag of 60 mediums for $109 I think. The mediums are probably on the smaller side of what you get. The smalls are less $ but too much work. Tomales Bay is very clean. The enviro-nazis have actually done a pretty swell job of continually testing the water and keeping things clean. There was a campground in the area that had been there for years with some old and outdated/faulty septic systems that were leaking into the bay. The coastal commission and water quality people shut them down quick and made them do a huge clean up, plus they had to get rid of a bunch of old 1940’s dirt bag trailers that were disintegrating into the ground along the sea wall.
The urchin divers years ago complained that the urchins from Tomales Bay had a smell, well that’s why, but they don’t anymore.
They also don’t harvest oysters at least three days after a hard rain because of runoff contamination from the dairies around there. The coastal dairies which have a watershed that feeds into Tomales Bay will be the next thing to go.

 

[happy-diver]

Ultra magnificent!

 

[rob.mwpropane]

You’re super lucky that you can go out and get that many quality oysters!

At Hog Island I can get a bag of 60 mediums for $109 I think. The mediums are probably on the smaller side of what you get. The smalls are less $ but too much work. Tomales Bay is very clean. The enviro-nazis have actually done a pretty swell job of continually testing the water and keeping things clean. There was a campground in the area that had been there for years with some old and outdated/faulty septic systems that were leaking into the bay. The coastal commission and water quality people shut them down quick and made them do a huge clean up, plus they had to get rid of a bunch of old 1940’s dirt bag trailers that were disintegrating into the ground along the sea wall.
The urchin divers years ago complained that the urchins from Tomales Bay had a smell, well that’s why, but they don’t anymore.
They also don’t harvest oysters at least three days after a hard rain because of runoff contamination from the dairies around there. The coastal dairies which have a watershed that feeds into Tomales Bay will be the next thing to go.

I have never been to California, it's my understanding that everything is more expensive then here?

Pretty awesome that they cleaned up your bay. Ours is so large, I'm not sure if they can ever bring it back to what I have been told it once was. There's a book by a man that has been taking pictures of the bay for the last ~ 60 years. He said you used to be able to go down and see ~ 15' in all directions. With all the farming and run off I just can't see it ever getting back to that, but I never thought it would get as good as it is right now, so who knows. They are making a difference, so we'll see.

I do not know if there's any rules on harvesting after the rain, as far as I know it's just Sat 8-12 (for recreational, commercial is obviously different), since I work I'm not sure if there are other recreational days or not.

From visiting the museums in the city (years ago before it got scary like now) they talked about the oysters being so plentiful that you could see piles of them sticking out of the water at low tide. Oysters were a staple for the Chesapeake bay (here's a good link with a few pictures; Oyster History - Oyster Recovery Partnership)

We'll actually take sacks out given to us by the state of MD that have "spat" (baby oysters) all over the shells and we'll dump those out onto the beds. We also save all the shells so on the next trip we can dump those back onto the beds. I am told it takes about 5 years for spat to get to the point it can be harvested.