Below is a letter to the editor of Carteret County News-Times in North Carolina from Chris Matteo of Chadwick Creek Oysters.  Chris is writing in response to a classic NIMBY article. A retired judge moved to town and wanted to "protect" his view by telling the locals what they could do.  Chris' response is thoughtful and deserves a wide audience.  Thank you Chris.

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March 2, 2022

I am Chris Matteo, current president of North Carolina’s Shellfish Growers Association. I am not a retired district judge, but I am an oyster farmer with an Ivy League education (one of two in our state) and this evening I’m here to help you learn something new, Mr. Bentley. My background is not in law, but in finance and entrepreneurship. I used to invest money for large institutional clients, including pension funds, university endowments, and sovereign wealth funds. I understand a bit about economics. I too came here from somewhere else, yet I have earned the respect of many locals. I am asking the citizens and visitors of North Carolina to not fall prey to the hyperbole and fearmongering you have so generously supplied.

First off, oyster farming is not an unthinkable interference for boating and fishing. In fact, we have the support of recreational and commercial fishing organizations in North Carolina, as well as almost all environmental non-profits and universities. Wild oyster populations sit near 5% of historic levels. Educated people understand that without oysters, you have fewer fish and lower water quality. Oysters are a keystone species. Most aquatic species depend on the humble oyster. Heavily populated areas like Indian Beach are most vulnerable to water quality issues in their bordering estuaries because of developmental impacts. We (oyster farmers) are actually enhancing and restoring the ecological treasure of which you speak. You’re welcome.

Calling coastal North Carolina an economic miracle is a bit of a stretch. Yes, tourism in the Outer Banks is an impressive revenue generator. Those tourists/visitors can’t seem to get enough of the wonderful oysters grown locally. Just because one retires to coastal NC and lives off savings or a pension does not mean everyone lives that way. Home price appreciation recently has been impressive also. It’s not due to any economic miracles. It also prices locals out of their home markets.

The first item you mention on your list of reasons to move to coastal North Carolina is “good food.” Let’s focus on that one, since oysters are arguably the “greenest” and most sustainable form of protein production on Earth. Growing oysters is a regenerative farming practice that improves the environment, as shellfish filter our estuaries. Oysters have a negative carbon footprint. Gram for gram, oysters are the most micronutrient-dense food on the planet, second only to beef liver. Not only are oysters nutrient-dense, they are full of vitamins and minerals in which Americans are most deficient, namely Zinc, Iron, and Vitamin D. Oysters contain all three major classes of omega-3s: ALA, DHA, and EPA and fall within the top-ten most omega-3-rich sources of popular seafood, with about as much omega-3 as swordfish and bass, but with significantly less mercury. For a country that is overfed and undernourished, and a world that’s experiencing a crisis in ocean health and marine pollution, oysters are one of the best crops you can grow. Did I mention they are delicious?

You say that oyster farms in this state could possibly take up “thousands of water acres.” That would be wonderful! Back of the envelope, there are 1,900 square miles (1,216,000 acres) of water contained within North Carolina estuaries. If we grew our industry to 10x where it is today and farmed 10,000 acres, we would be using less than 1% of our estuary to filter the remaining 99%. Water quality and fishing would return to levels not seen since the early 1800’s. So you know, one adult oyster filters up to 50 gallons of water per day.

Everyone consumes what farmers produce, yet many folks complain about what farming looks like. Some people think oyster farms are beautiful. Most are below the surface, and very little protrudes from the water column. Nearby oyster farmers may view your house, your boat, or your dock as visual pollution. Those items certainly take away more from a natural landscape that an oyster farm. If one buys a piece land that is surrounded by acreage that one did not purchase and then someone builds a farm next door, one’s view changes. C'est la vie. There’s always Alaska.

Just for the record, no oyster farm anywhere generates “sewerage (sp)”, even when spelled correctly. Oysters are often consumed raw and fecal coliform bacteria from development runoff and wildlife is monitored by the Shellfish Sanitation Division of DEQ. If it rains a half inch in some densely populated locations, oyster farms become polluted temporarily because of what is coming from developed land. So while you and others complain about visual “pollution”, we as an industry suffer from actual pollution.

Also for the record, most obstructions and storm debris that end up in our estuaries post-hurricane come from boats that have come untethered, poorly constructed docks, and the junk most people keep in the flood zone under their homes and around their property. If our grow-out gear leaves our leases after a storm, we are very eager to get it back. Our livelihood depends on that gear and the oysters inside. How many people that you know who own houses in a flood zone track down the debris that leaves their property and ends up in our estuary? How many recreational fisherman you know dive overboard to retrieve a lure that snapped off a line? I’m guessing that if you multiply those two numbers together, you get 0.

No oyster farmer is wanting to ruin a sunset view. In fact, we love them too. But here’s the thing… you don’t own the viewshed. You don’t even lease it. In fact, the shellfish industry made a good faith effort to negotiate some parameters with DCM for floating structures before that effort was blown up by ignorant NIMBY folks. At any time, an oyster farmer could have simply purchased an old rusty barge of any size and anchored it on ones’ lease and conducted farming activities aboard. Still can. If you were a judge, read up on maritime law. If you’re bold enough, I suggest you try to change it. Good luck! (Basically, there is nothing you can do to someone anchoring in your viewshed, even if they keep smelly shrimp heads on board baking in the sun, just to spoil your sunset cocktails).

North Carolina will not “lose thousands of jobs in sales, services to homeowners, rentals, hotels, and restaurants” because of shellfish farming. To the contrary. For every oyster grown locally and shipped out, more money flows into the local economy, and twice as much money flows into the areas in NC where they are consumed. If we don’t do something to protect and improve water quality (like growing oysters) as more development occurs at our coast, we will eventually ruin it. Tourism, fishing, and real estate values are all negatively impacted if water quality goes down. We are here to help. For free, for now (in some states, oyster farmers are eligible to receive money in a nutrient credit program that offsets developmental impacts).

As head of the North Carolina Shellfish Growers Association, a board member for the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association, and an owner of two oyster farms and an oyster seed nursery, I am a bit of an “expert” and most likely spend more time outdoors on the water than you do. Love that fresh air. When you ask average folks walking Indian Beach who come from Florida, New York City, Chicago, (folks from Seattle know the shellfish industry well and love it, so they get a pass), Los Angeles, and Miami who know nothing about shellfish aquaculture, yes, you will get ignorant responses when viewshed fears are stoked. They don’t understand that shellfish growers are actively repairing the negative impacts they inadvertently caused. I suggest you educate them with the information I have imparted, gratis.

I’m sorry, but this paragraph of yours gave me a good chuckle.

“Is this state initiative for artificial oyster farms about what’s good for coastal North Carolina, and our economy, or what’s good for the business profits in the pockets of a few private individuals - those people who hire lawyers and lobbyists in Raleigh, or ‘know important state officials,’ or make election campaign contributions...those people.”

We’ve never spent a dime on a lobbyist or lawyer for our industry. I don’t know any important state officials personally. I’ve never made any campaign contributions privately or as an association. Every shellfish grower in this state is a small “mom and pop” operation, like many commercial fisherman. We battled and won to keep out industrial scale shellfish farmers (from Canada) who did hire a slew of lobbyists, and who did apply political pressure. They had deep pockets. We still beat them. I have not even spent a dime of membership dues for the several years I’ve been president. Everything I do for this industry is volunteer work. Do you know who originally promoted the growth of the shellfish industry in NC? North Carolina Sea Grant (administered by NC State University), North Carolina Department of Agriculture, North Carolina Coastal Federation, and members of our General Assembly. Why you ask? If you’ve read what I’ve written, you should know by now. If not, please re-read what I have written. It’s important.

To you, I say this. We have had unanimous support from the entire NC General Assembly during a time of extreme political polarization. That’s right, unanimous. Not one member of the House or Senate voted down our bills, and all agreed to expand the shellfish industry. I bet it’s hard enough to get Town Commissioners to agree unanimously on something, right? Anyone who is educated to the benefits of what we do, and the ecosystem services (filtration) our crops supply for free to our State, is more than happy to support the shellfish industry. I suggest you put on the hat of an impartial judge and reconsider your stance in light of the information I have supplied.

Please visit the Chadwick Creek Facebook page and let Chris know how much you appreciate this thoughtful response.  

Comox, British Columbia. The British Columbia ShellfishGrowers Association has partnered with BlueTrace to bring industry-leading traceability technology to BC shellfish businesses. 

“The shellfish growers of British Columbia raise some of the best oysters, clams, mussels, scallops, and geoducks in the world. We are excited to help these innovative farmers continue to develop a safe, and prosperous industry.” says Chip Terry, Ph.D., CEO of Maine-based traceability and food safety company BlueTrace.

For over 60 years, the BCSGA has sought “to advance the sustainable growth and prosperity of the BC shellfish industry.” Their membership includes growers, harvesters, processors, and industry supporters and vendors. 

The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada, in line with regulatory bodies the world over, is stepping up its efforts at supply chain traceability to help prevent and react to outbreaks of shellfish diseases such as Vibrio and Norovirus. The initiative involves bolstering and standardizing tagging and traceability requirements for shellfish businesses. With more visibility into the supply chain, regulators will have the ability to quickly and precisely identify the source of any tainted product. This minimizes the extent and duration of costly recalls – while keeping consumers safe.  

“It is important for the industry to stay vigilant in a time of rising temperatures. A digitized traceability system for the entire industry raises the bar on food safety and ensures that our members can build their businesses without drowning in paperwork. We are pleased to be working with BlueTrace, DFO and our members to build a sustainable future for shellfish in British Columbia,” says Nico Prins, Executive Director at BCSGA. 

To help members comply with the new regulations, BCSGA reviewed all existing options in the marketplace and secured funds to help members purchase the best solution for their individual businesses. BlueTrace met all their requirements for flexibility, ease of use, alignment with regulations, and affordability. 

Currently used by over 150 shellfish businesses across North America, BlueTrace develops technology that allows anyone dealing in shellfish to easily comply with federal, state, and provincial regulations. Their combination of apps and printers saves shellfish growers and dealers time by reducing redundant data entry and expediting tagging and logging. Through collaboration with the BCSGA, the company has tailored their solution to specifically address the new regulations in BC.

About BlueTrace: BlueTrace offers the easiest and most powerful traceability solution for shellfish growers, wholesalers, distributors, and dealers. Its streamlined app enables organizations big and small to optimize their activities, comply with regulations, and keep up with their inventory.

Many of us might wonder whether the govt has gone overboard with funding, but if they are offering and you are eligible you should at least consider applying. 

The USDA Pandemic Response and Safety Funding aims to help companies who have changed their businesses because of COVID.  Started doing Home Delivery? Packing in much smaller sizes than before--and needed a new tagging system? Hired more workers?  Put in new systems?....there is a lot of things companies did to respond that cost a lot of money.  

Only small businesses (95% of all seafood businesses) are eligible.  The details are below and the application only takes ~20 minutes.  Good luck.

We continue to hear amazing stories from farmers.

• The lobster men and women who have built great businesses growing amazing products. 
• The Wall Street guy who found peace getting back to his roots. 
• The ex-WNBA player who is out every morning at the crack of dawn tending her crop.
• The young folks taking over the family business.

The list goes on and every farm has a great story to tell.  And consumers want to know:

• Who grows my food?
• Why are they doing it?
• How do they do it?
• What makes it so amazing? 

Telling your story moves you from that Buck-A-Shuck menu to the $3/shell menu.  

Many farmers have amazing websites, Instagram feeds, brochures, videos and the like. Using these tools is critically important for growing your business. We suggest starting small, but be sure to start.  Folks want to know your authentic story.  What makes you and your farm special? 

We just added another tool that should be helpful--and is really low maintenance: QR Codes on tags.

Every shellfish tag we print includes a QR code that links to more information about the product and the farm.  Now that chef, shucker, wait person, or end consumer can learn your story right on their phone.  

We did a virtual tradeshow with the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association.  Over 90 people showed up!!

Thank you to ECSGA and Bob Rheault for amazing work they have been doing in these trying times.  The show was great for us, but really the power of these organizations is the work they do behind the scenes to keep the industry humming. If you have the means, please join your state or regional organization.  

If you want to see our presentation, visit our YouTube channel.  Enjoy.  

We started thinking about shellfish tagging about a year ago. We were watching 

folks waste valuable time filling out harvester/dealer tags, log books, and generally dealing with tons of paperwork.  After talking to a lot of farmers, dealers, regulators and reading the 487 pages of the Model Ordinance, we finally launched our tagging solution in March of 2020--right as every farm shut down for Covid.  Despite the headwinds of a global pandemic, we had 41 new clients in less than 6 months.

So what have we learned? 

1) Paperwork Sucks: Regulations exist for good reasons, but complying with regulations is painful. No one became a farmer because they wanted to do paperwork. 

2) Most states are a little different:  despite the Model Ordinance most states have slightly different regulations (or interpretations of regulations). For example, Washington state wants you to collect water or animal temperature at harvest.  Florida wants to know what type of cooling you have.  Others want bulk tags handled differently. 

3) Paper is painful:  We (I) thought finding waterproof paper would be the easy part.  Turns out getting it on the right size rolls with the right perforation and in the right orientation is a lot harder than expected.  We sent 100s of useless rolls back to the factory. 

The future is becoming more obvious.  Now distributors can scan in the tag information--saving them time and money.  The QR codes lets us pass extended information that folks always want but doesn't fit on the tag (say tasting notes or a farmer 

profile).  We can also make farmer's lives easier by making it easier to do state filings and in the future printing invoices and other associated paperwork.  

After getting inquiries from over 30 people and interviewing 8 amazing folks, we hired our first sales leader--right as Covid shutdown the entire economy. 

Tough time to start, but Kam Kim is already a great addition to the team. He is smart, energetic, and will make sure we are well connected to the shellfish farms in the mid-Atlantic.  When this market rebound (and it will), he will be ready.  

Beyond getting a free trial, here is why you should meet Kam.

1) He managed one of Cherrystone's Farms on the eastern shore of Virginia--one of the largest farms on the east coast. From that experience, he has a deep appreciation of how successful farms run. 

2) He managed the farm at the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences (VIMs) for the last 3 years. There he was a client of Oyster Tracker for over a year. VIMs taught him how broodstock, nursery, and hatchery programs work and the deep importance of the science behind all we do. 

3) He was/will be again a bartender who loves to meet people and solve problems.

4) Most importantly, he is a natural born model and a great fisherman. 

You can reach Kam at Kam@oystertracker.com.

Please join us in congratulating him. 

Chip

Wow it is a crazy time.  I hope you and your families are well.  That is most important.

As I'm sure you know, Covid has been disastrous for shellfish farms. Restaurant sales have gone to zero and therefor almost all farm have no sales. Most farms are cutting expenses.

In response, we have given all our clients the next two months free. We always want to be a good partner with our clients and this is one small way we can do that.

We are also the eternal optimists and know that unlike some other industries/companies we are in a fortunate place.  Here are my data points.

1) You can meet demand when the market rebounds.  Oysters/clams/mussels can stay on the farm pretty much indefinitely. Once restaurants reopen farms will be able to meet demand. The optimistic scenario: 2 months of social distancing followed by a great summer.

2) We are building great solutions to real challenges:  We are well funded with a great team and clients in 10 states and 4 countries. Clients have been giving us strong directions. We are continually updating our farm management solution and our new tagging solution is coming soon. 

3) You can now try Oyster Tracker for free:  As you move into the busy season of planting new seed, splitting bags and generally getting the farm in shape we can help.  All farms will now automatically get a free two month trial. If it works for you and business bounces back great. If not, you can always export all your data to a spreadsheet. 

Bottom line:  Together we will come out of this stronger.  Please let us know what we can do to help you.  

The Oyster Tracker Team (Chip, Andy, Cat, Kam, Drew, and Rob)

An estimated 35,000 Americans got sick from Vibrio parahaemolyticus transmitted by shellfish--an increase 54% from 2006 to 2017.

At first glance really bad news, but:

1) The CDC estimates the percentage of unreported illnesses and scales up based on the reported cases. Better reporting leads to worse results. If historically consumers reported only 10% of cases, but today they report 30% the estimated number of illnesses would be a 300% increase--without any actual increase in disease.

2) Even ignoring the reporting issue, the industry grew way more than 54% over the last 10 years. On a percentage basis, the incidence of disease must be lower.

In other words, the percentage of shellfish consumers getting sick has declined. But even one sickness or death is too many. We should always be looking for improvements. Headlines like the above lead to more stringent regulations and a greater burden on the industry that may only add cost and not improve outcomes.

Having spent some time exploring the 489 page Model Ordinance and seeing what happens on farms, dealers and restaurants, I wanted to share with you our experience. As with many others, I think our current system is fine, but beginning to creak under a growing demand. Most notably the reliance solely on a paper based often handwritten system for tracebacks.

The shellfish traceability system relies a paper trail that let's regulators traceback through the supply chain in the event of an illness. Here is the general overview of how this works (note there are a lot of subtleties that I'm ignoring here).

1) Harvest Your Shellfish

You made sure the state hasn't closed the water for any sort of harmful algal bloom (which seem to be increasing everywhere). You comply with any Vibrio regulations--which mostly relate to getting the product on ice/refrigerated within a specified time.

2) Fill out your harvest tags

Depending on the state, you have to do one tag for every bag and at least part of the tag is usually done by hand. If your area has a vibrio compliance plan, you must include extra data.

3) Complete your other paperwork

Harvest log, vibrio logs, shipping labels, invoices and the like. Make sure you also file your harvest reports with the state every month (or annually in some state)

4) Dealers take over

  temperatures, wet storage and and the like. All while trying to read your handwriting.

Dealers replace your tags with their own, create a receiving log, keep track of

Depending on the supply chain route, this can happen numerous times between the farm and the plate.

5) Eventually the Restaurant

They are required to store tags for 90 days in chronological order. This is a typical storage system. When someone gets sick, regulators start here.

The result:

The average traceback takes over 4 weeks and over 50% of tracebacks fail because at some point in the chain the records are incomplete or unreadable.

In other words, despite spending thousand of hours and millions of dollars on compliance, the system seldom has the intended result of preventing others from getting sick.

We are in the midst of developing a solution to help farmers. What would you like to see?