October 12, 2020 — When Gov. Charlie Baker shut down restaurants and bars in March, Zack Dixon’s world, and that of hundreds of other shellfish farmers in Barnstable County, dropped off a cliff.
“Restaurants are our customers. When they closed in March, our business revenues went to zero,” said Dixon, who co-owns the Holbrook Oyster company with Justin and Jacob Dalby.
Over the past couple of decades, oysters have become the darling of the culinary world and aquaculture has expanded exponentially. Massachusetts landed nearly 8.7 million pounds of oysters, mostly from aquaculture farming, in 2018, worth $28.3 million. The Cape is home to 265 of the 391 licensed growers in the state, cultivating nearly 661 acres, half the state total of 1,203 acres.
When the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association surveyed larger dealers and wholesalers following the shutdown, they found that 98% of the market for oysters had evaporated overnight, said association president Bob Rheault.
“We knew we were inextricably tied to the food service industry, we didn’t realize how tied in we were,” said Rheault. “I don’t think any one of us would have guessed that amount.”