The Return Of The Oyster

Today's Dining section in the New York Time s had an interesting article about oysters making a comeback in Manhattan's East River. This is a subject close to my heart because I'm an environmentalist and I've bene wanting cleaner waters and cleaner environments for our local sealife now. Oysters are natures' way of filtering out pollutants. They also reflect Manhattan's culinary history.The local indigenous people made them a staple of their diet as did the Europeans who came after them. Now they;re hitting tables once more.

The article , written by David Kamp tells of their return of these bivalves. Most of then look like their ancestors that graced New York's waters, ridged, craggy and tightly shut. However the harbor still has PCBs in it and that makes eating any seafood form the area taboo. The students though are hoping for a day when future generations will be able to eat produce from New York's Rivers. Oysters have been planted in hopes of building reefs similar to what was gracing Manhattan four hundred years ago.

I know a similar program that wa s just instituted in New jersey's Raritan Bay . That area too was rich in oysters and a popular fishing spot between the Lenni Lenape and the English who settled htere. there were even oysters factories in South Amboy, one of the towns that graces the start of the bay area. Hopefully one dayin the green future we'll be able to eat some of the Raritan Bay oysters too.

The bivalve industry was a big and thriving one in this area until over harvesting and depletion kicked in. Now with the work of eco farmers and environmentalists we can bring it back. it may take a while but people will get the benefit of local oysters .