North Carolina oyster farming is a growing industry that is attracting hundreds of workers from around the country. A recent survey tracked this upward trend of supply and demand for cultivated oysters.
The economic impact of cultivated oysters has surpassed wild-caught oysters for the first time, according to a study conducted by Dr. Eric Edwards, an economist at N.C. State Department of Agriculture. Farmed oysters provide a consistent half-shell shape that is easier to eat than harvested, more mature oysters. Cultivated oysters also fetch a higher price in the marketplace and are generally eaten at restaurants. The demand has created a surge in the number of oyster farms, which added 271 jobs and contributed over $14 million to the state's GDP just in 2019.
“When you think about the economic impacts of this industry, it's not just what the oyster farmer gets for their oyster.”
Dr. Jane Harrison, a North Carolina Sea Grant coastal economics specialist, says there is value being added in the supply chain as that oyster product gets to the consumer.
"Certainly, you have the farmers themselves. So the folks that are out there, the women and the men that are growing these oysters. Then you have processors, so folks that are in the processing and distribution business for seafood products. And then after that, you have
the buyers and those could be seafood restaurants, seafood, retail markets, grocery stores.”
Approximately 300 oyster farms are located along the North Carolina coast, in Engelhard, Hampstead and other Down East communities.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that North Carolinians prefer farmed over wild-caught oysters. In fact, the economic impact of farmed oysters is higher than wild-caught oysters.