The start of autumn here in the Holy City not only brings a sense of “false fall” and a reprieve from the heat and humidity, it also marks the start of one of Charleston’s favorite times of the year: oyster season.
Most still follow the guideline of harvesting and consuming oysters in months that end in “r,” or cooler weather months. Locally, the official duration of oyster season is Oct. 1 through May 1, according to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources.
On occasion, those dates have been changed — last year the season started in some places as late as mid-October and lasted until late May due to effects from Hurricane Ian.
Local oyster eaters will tell you that fresh Lowcountry oysters taste better in months with cooler weather since most oysters are spawning and growing in the spring and summer. By winter, oysters are mature, plump and a perfect blend of briny and sweet, like drinking in the saltwater marshes themselves.
Oysters hold cultural significance
The Charleston peninsula was once called Oyster Point, named for the prehistoric oyster shell ring mounds left by indigenous tribes in the days before Charles Town was settled in the 1670s. Tribes like the Kiawah are said to have used these for everything from cultural ceremonies and communal feasts to an early form of ecological preservation. The mounds are so large, they can be seen from the sky.
The history of oysters in Charleston is also rooted in Black communities. When enslaved West Africans were brought to the Lowcountry, they often came from coastal areas and were extremely skilled fishermen and oystermen.
Oysters were used as a food source, and their shells were recycled to make building material, fertilizer, tools and jewelry. Pre- and post-Civil War, the Gullah Geechee communities along the coasts utilized the waterways around them. They often supplyed the area with seafood by creating their own businesses in areas such as oystering — a tradition still carried on today.
Terrell Brown, owner of Brown’s Oyster Supply on James Island, is carrying on his own family’s legacy.
“I got started in the oyster industry through my father. It was my fifth grade job shadow day. We got left by the tide. Gnats were biting, and it rained on us. I told myself that day I would never do this,” he said. “Fast forward 10 years, I asked him if I could work with him. He told me to buy a pair of waders and to see him in the morning.”
As the tide goes out and reveals the oyster beds deep in the marsh, Brown, his partner Jodie, and his father Richard, are out on their boat. Harvesting the oysters by hand, they go out in body- numbing cold temperatures, knee high or deeper in sticky pluff mud. Picking and harvesting wild oysters is half of the battle and takes years of trained practice with a skilled eye.
With a hammer, pieces of dead, broken, or too small or young oysters are quickly knocked off of the cluster oysters as they are pulled out of the sinking mud.
By the time the tide has creeped in, the boat is full of baskets, or bushels, of oysters, ready to be washed and bagged up for sale. To Brown, the hard work is worth it.
“My most memorable moments working in the oystering industry is being able to work alongside my dad,” he said. “He taught me everything I know.”
The Browns have successfully sustained their business by supplying oysters to the Charleston area, especially when business is in full swing due to the longtime Lowcountry tradition of the oyster roast. Between October and April, the Lowcountry likely hosts hundreds of oyster roasts for businesses and personal consumption.
The Lowcountry Oyster Festival held at Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens saw in 2022 more than 10,000 attendees.
Isabella MacBeth, Charleston native and U.S. national oyster shucking champion, has worked at and managed some of the best oyster bars around the city for more than 10 years. Here in Charleston, an abundant variety of oysters can be found in stores and on menus, but one thing they have in common is their species.
“South Carolina only has one oyster species or variety: the Crassostrea Virginica or the Eastern Oyster,” MacBeth said. “This oyster is native to the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Coast of North America. Both oyster farmers and harvesters in this state use this oyster.”
What makes each oyster unique in outward appearance and taste, is the merrior, which is how the land, air and water all contribute to the characteristics, including the taste, of a particular ingredient.
“In the cooler months, as much as I enjoy [oysters] raw, I find the steamed local clusters on a table outside surrounded by friends and family to be one of the greatest events in life,” MacBeth said.
Oysters and the environment
The history of oyster roasts stretches back more than 200 years in Charleston, and our consumption of thousands of pounds of oysters every year has an important impact on the Charleston environment, too.
“Scientific research has shown that oysters are one of the only net positive things we grow for food when it comes to the environment,” MacBeth said.
Through the South Carolina Oyster Recycling and Enhancement Program (SCORE), businesses and civilians can safely recycle used oyster shells to be put back out into the ecosystem.
SCORE restores and enhances the wild oyster habitats by using the recycled oyster shells in the intertidal environment to form new, self-sustaining oyster reefs. This is not only important to strengthen the coastlines (which act as a protective barrier against tidal waves) but also helps filter ocean water.
Tom Bierce, owner of Charleston Oyster Farm, established in 2015, uses the SCORE program while farming and supplying the area with oysters. “Our role with the farm is to provide fresh, locally grown ‘single’ oysters to restaurants and raw bars in the area to serve on the half shell,” Bierce said.
“The cycle of marsh-to-table and table-to-marsh really links our industry to the general health of our waterways,” Bierce said. “Eating farmed oysters is actually having a benefit on the health of wild oyster populations by increasing the overall shell input and taking harvest pressure off wild reefs.”
While oyster farming and recycling takes some strain off of wild oyster harvests, there are still issues.
“The rising tides present a threat to our wild oyster harvesting. But the biggest threats are man-made,” Brown said. “Overharvesting, sewage spills, septic failures, pesticides, unaware new boaters digging into the oyster beds, running a motor fast through a creek … all of this is speeding up the erosion and pollution process.”
Some man-made issues can be solved through education, through programs like SCORE and tours such as those offered at Charleston Oyster Farm that give hands-on experience to show just how vital oysters are for the ecosystem.
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