Oyster shucking 101: salt in your blood
Mike McGee knows a thing or two about an oyster.
At one point, the lifelong Chincoteague local and third-generation waterman owned six seafood corporations on the famous island.
“I’ve been in it over 40 years,” said McGee. “My whole family was working watermen.”
McGee has since sold portions of his businesses to Ballard Fish & Oyster Co. which owns the majority of leases on local oyster beds, but still runs his original company on East Side Drive. For as long as anyone can remember, McGee and Chincoteague Shellfish Farms have supplied the shellfish for the Chincoteague Oyster Festival. It’s always hectic getting ready for the event, which usually draws over 2,500 attendees. And this year is no exception.
“We’ve got a high run of tides here and that’s terrible on us. We’ve had a lot of rain. It’s not an easy thing to do. Plus, all the other stuff you have to do,” said McGee, referring to the packing and shipping of shellfish to major chain stores across the country.
“It’s not easy. Nothing’s easy in this business. Nothing, whatsoever. This business is hard business, but it seems like when it's in your blood you can't get out."
McGee says he eats oysters every day both because he loves them and to check for quality, of course. He stepped up on the block to show how an oyster is shucked at Chincoteague Shellfish Farms.
The majority of the shuckers — of which there are 26 — are “breakers,” using a block with an iron protrusion that offers a blunt edge upon which position the oyster to break the broad end of the bivalves off with a hammer.
Others, called “stabbers” simply insert their knives into the side of the oyster.
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The breaking of the shell produces an opening for the tip of a knife, which is inserted along the top, flatter shell as to not cut the oyster. Then, a simple twist of the wrist severs the abductor muscle holding the shells together.
Sarah Savage is a breaker.
The Temperanceville, Virginia, resident has served the Accomack County school system for over 20 years, but has been shucking oysters since 1991.
“I wanted to learn how to shuck oysters, so I went to Bill Jones' oyster house on East Side,” said Savage. She is left-handed and learned from a shucker that was, too. “I’ve been shucking ever since.”
“Stabbers are somewhat faster than the bill-breakers but everybody makes their money,” she said, laughing.
Currently, she’s the head custodian at Nandua High School, and from October through April, she starts her day at 4 a.m. shucking for MeTompkin Bay Oyster Co. in Crisfield, Maryland. The former Chincoteague Shellfish Farms employee shucks oysters each year for the annual Chincoteague Seafood Festival and the Oyster Festival.
Although she said she’s never really timed herself, she guesses that she could shuck 25 to 50 oysters per minute.
The Chincoteague Oyster Festival will be held on Saturday, Oct. 15, at Tom’s Cove Park. The event, sponsored by the Chincoteague Chamber of Commerce, is sold out.