The restaurant closures caused by COVID-19 have severely slowed the demand for farmed shellfish, leaving oyster farmers struggling.
This has led to a surplus of oysters that are becoming to big for the traditional “raw bar” market. This accumulating supply could lead to a potential collapse in oyster prices.
Combined with growers’ loss of income from restaurant sales since March 2020, this puts more than 3,000 jobs in the oyster aquaculture industry at risk.
Created in collaboration with Pew Charitable Trusts, U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, the Supporting Oyster Aquaculture and Restoration (SOAR) initiative aims to extend $2 million in payments to oyster farmers over the next two years. The program expects to support more than 100 shellfish companies and preserve over 200 critical jobs in northern New England, the Mid-Atlantic and Washington state. Simultaneously, over 5 million oysters will be deployed to rebuild 27 acres of imperiled native shellfish reefs across 20 restoration sites.
The initiative will also establish a $1 million Shellfish Growers Resilience Fund program with Pew, NOAA and shellfish growers’ associations as collaborating partners to address some of the underlying challenges growers face. The goal is to pave the way for a viable and sustainable U.S. shellfish industry that benefits the ocean and the communities which rely upon it.
Are you a shellfish grower interested in participating in the SOAR program?
Click here for more information on how to apply.
About the Author
Let me point out that the COVID-19 is unable to put the oyster industry at risk. COVID-19 is an illness. It is our Governor who put the oyster industry at risk by shutting down restaurants via Executive Order. He had other choices, such as warning the elderly and immune compromised to stay at home. The remaining people who had a less than .01% chance of death could choose to either stay at home or get out and about as their individual lives required. Our society has always been based on the concept of personal responsibility, however now it seems that our government prefers to step in with one-size-fits-all solutions that have devastated the lives of hard working individuals. It is always horrible and tragic when people die, but most people have a good sense of self preservation and prefer to choose for themselves which risks to take.
Well said, Karen Gay! Scotiagirl wonders, would you consider running for Governor? Virginia needs someone who is on our side
Why is executive order allowed
It eliminates the other parts of government
On state and federal branches
THIS should be abolished
This new program is a load of crap. Not because it helps the farmers/watermen. Because it’s socialism. Our government is getting bigger and bigger. The government jobs of oversight for problems like this will never go away. Just the jobs of the people they will fail to properly help. The swamp found a way to impose stupidity on the entire situation and here we are. Another social program being run by people who poibably never ran a business like this and therefore won’t know what to do except to read the e mail from Nancy Pelosi on how to protect the grants and her power that started the whole damn thing. Just open the damn restaurants and let the guys work so they can get out on the water and have their kids go to school so we can all be Americas again.
Scotiagirl is humming “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina ” because she is watching it happen here…