Shuck Portland Panel: What the Shell Happened to the Oysters?

Love you, Kushi oyster.

Coming up in February is the Shuck Portland festival, a “culinary event during oyster season.” It’s a celebration of these bivalve mollusks and there are a whole bunch of dinners, a couple of classes, and one panel happening—it’s the panel, called “What the Shell Happened to the Oysters?” that I want to highlight. It’s scheduled for Tuesday, February 6 from 6-9pm at Ecotrust, 721 NW 9th Avenue in Portland. Originally it was a purely ticketed event, but ticket sales were not terribly robust so they’ve turned the admission price into something donation-based. Here’s more from the organizers:

“At the core of Shuck is a heartfelt focus to raise money for wetlands conservation and we feel that it’s also important to tell the oyster’s and the ocean’s stories to as many people as possible. Seats have filled up for most of our festival events but, sadly, ticket sales have been very low for the panel. So, we’ve decided to make access free in hopes of gathering a larger audience. In place of a required ticket, we will now have donation collection and raffle ticket sales from our incredible sponsors.”

This is a great opportunity to hear from the Northwest’s leading experts in biology, aquaculture, conservation and seafood, when it comes to oysters. And you’ll be helping some worthy causes at the same time. Here are more of the details as to what’s going to happen during the evening. Topics include:

• • • What is the current state of oysters, the Oregon seafood industry, shellfish production, seafood fraud, and consumer awareness?
    • Current status of Oregon wetlands & forestry practices, conservation efforts, Yaquina bay history & political climate).
    • Forestry practices & how it relates to oyster production & native oyster populations.
    • Native oyster beds vs pacific oyster beds.
    • Small farms vs large farms.

    The schedule for the evening is as follows:

    6-6:30pm—cocktail hour and food
    6:30-7:20pm—panel #1
    7:20pm—oyster tasting
    7:45-8:30pm—panel #2
    8:30pm—Q&A and more oysters!

    Here’s who you can expect to see and hear from:

    Lyf Gildersleeve—Moderator, Flying Fish Co.
    Paul Englemeyer—The Wetlands Conservancy, Audubon Society
    Kevin Scribner—MSA – Magnussen Stevens Act, Working Waterfronts Bill, Marine Fish Conservation Network

    Panel #1
    George Waldbusser—Ocean Ecology and Biogeochemistry expert
    Christy Smith—WEBS, Whisky Creek Oyster Hatchery
    Esther Lev—Executive director of The Wetlands Conservancy

    Panel #2
    Laura Brown—Shellfish biologist for the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians
    Liu Xin—Oregon Oyster Co- Yaquina Bay
    Lissa James Monberg—Hama Hama Shellfish Company- Hood Canal, WA

    I’m really looking forward to this evening as an opportunity to learn about oysters from both an ecological and culinary point of view. Hope to see you there!

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Meg Cotner

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Bridgetown Bites is written by Meg Cotner, a food loving freelance editor, writer, and published author in Portland, Oregon.

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