Oyster Farm in Wellfleet, MA 2009

Aw, Shucks! By Will Sabel Courtney Oysters are serious business for William Young. As if running a six-acre oyster farm alongside his girlfriend, Allison Paine, in Wellfleet, Massachusetts, wasnt enough mollusk-related activity, the 42-year-old Young who prefers to go by Chopper also competes in the upper echelon of professional oyster shucking competitions. Last year, he became the first American in 32 years to win the world oyster shucking competition in Ireland. Im a shucker, Young says in his thick New England accent. Ive been shucking my whole life. Hes not exaggerating. Born and raised in Maine, Young migrated to Wellfleet at age 15 to learn the sea from his father, a local fisherman. Since then, he estimates hes opened hundreds of thousands of oysters. In that time, hes become an expert on all manners of oyster farming, as well. After years of catching wild oysters, he opened his first farm in Wellfleet ten years ago; however, he says the water was too deep for the farm to be very successful. He moved to his current location five or six years ago, he says, and been more successful. While its possible to farm oysters using bottom culture that is, to spread the eggs along the bay floor and let them grow naturally Young uses a more complex method in order to increase his yield. Baby oysters are rooted in cement on circular platforms called hats, and allowed to grow; after they reach an appropriate level of maturity, they are broken off of the hats and, along with ...



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