Inaugural Oyster School to be Held in October
October 15, 2007
Buyers from among the nation’s major oyster retailers are heading to school this week to attend a first-of-its-kind workshop aimed at increasing the quality of fresh Gulf of Mexico oysters available to consumers today. The inaugural University of Florida “Oyster School” will provide key retailers in the U.S. seafood industry with comprehensive and practical training for marketing raw oysters from harvest to table. The workshop begins Wednesday and runs through Thursday in Apalachicola, the historic Panhandle community that produces 90 percent of Florida’s oysters and 10 percent of the supply nationwide.
The school is very much a hands-on experience for buyers to learn about the harvest and processing of fresh oysters, according to organizer Steve Otwell, a professor with UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences.
Approximately 20 participants are scheduled for a demonstration run aboard a working vessel, a tour of dockside processing facilities, and classroom time learning techniques to evaluate the taste, texture and appearance of fresh oysters. One session will focus on post-harvest processing methods for fresh oysters that have virtually eliminated the kinds of bacterial contaminants responsible for illnesses and deaths formerly associated with oyster consumption by at-risk segments of the public.
“The idea is to teach wholesale and retail buyers in the seafood industry about the advancements we’ve made in methods that make eating raw oysters safer,” Otwell said.
The school has been developed in cooperation with shellfish processors in Apalachicola, state and federal regulators, and Florida Sea Grant.
“It is one step in our ongoing partnership to improve both the sustainability of Florida’s oyster fishery and the safety of the fresh oyster supply,” Otwell said.
In 2004, with the assistance of 2nd District Congressman Allen Boyd and the Apalachicola Bay Oyster Dealers Association, UF presented another first-of-its kind when it opened the nation’s first oyster industry lab in Apalachicola to certify oyster products free from harmful bacteria before entering the marketplace.
The oyster’s school’s novel curriculum is patterned after another UF seafood and aquaculture food technology program, the annual Shrimp School. Since its creation in 1995, Shrimp School has become the leading academically based domestic and international training program for shrimp processors and regulators worldwide.
Otwell says he anticipates the Oyster School will also grow in popularity. “We want to increase the awareness among buyers of how safe it is to eat Gulf of Mexico oysters. The more they buy, the more our state’s oyster industry can expand.”
Contact:
Steve Otwell, (352) 392-4221
Victor Garrido, (352) 219-0583