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Business & Tech

Made In Barnstable: Moon Shoal Oysters

Full-time firefighter, Jon Martin, began oyster farming in 2007, which, he says, keeps him grounded and has brought him back to life.

Oyster farming is a trade Jon Martin learned from his friend, Scott Mullin in 2007.  Martin spotted Mullin going out on his boat in Barnstable Harbor in the middle of February, and his curiosity finally got the best of him.

He spent one day out on Mullin’s oyster farm, and was hooked.

Martin apprenticed with Mullin for about a year, and in 2008 secured his own “grant” from the Town of Barnstable.

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In Barnstable Harbor there are 50 grants--or plots--that are all approximately 2 acres. A grant is hard to come by, but can be transferred or sold by the owner. Martin happened to be at “the right place at the right time” when a family decided to sell theirs when they moved to Maine.

Martin’s grant is situated where Slough Point and Scorton Creek Spring meet in the Harbor.

When he was first learning the waters of Barnstable Harbor Martin kept running into the same sand bar, which was called Moon Shoal. He felt the sand bar was represented a metaphor for the need to adapt and overcome, so he named his company Moon Shoal Farm.

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Martin employs an old French oyster farming technique from the 1800s called the “rack and bag” method, which is best utilized with an off-bottom culture. The oysters sit above the ground in mesh bags that Martin is constantly changing, moving and thinning out--his version of "hoeing the garden"--in order to create the perfect environment for the oysters to grow.

This farming method, along with the weather and location of the farm influence shape and taste of the oyster; both qualities are extremely important to their resale value.

Martin explains that the flavor of a Barnstable Harbor oyster differs in flavor of an oyster from Cotuit or Wellfleet, for example. According to Martin the sandy bottom and infusion of fresh water in the Harbor, give the Moon Shoal Oysters a sweeter flavor. 

Martin gets his seeds from Maine, as well as the hatchery at the Aquacultural Research Corporation in Dennis. On average the oysters take about 24 months to grow to the selling size of 3 inches.

In the summer Martin tries to catch every low tide he can and spends about one to four hours on the water depending on the tide. He likes to say his "life revolves around the tide chart and is addicted to the weather report."

Moon Shoal Farms produces over 200,000 oysters a year, and sells them to a wholesaler based out of Duxbury. The wholesaler then sells them to high end restaurants in Boston, New York City, San Francisco and even Texas.

Martin's goal is to eventually get the permits to sell his oysters directly to local restaurants. "It feels great to have them in restaurants in other parts of the country," he said "but it would feel better to get them out on the Cape."

In the meantime, Martin is approaching one of his busy times of year--the winter when all of his gear and his oysters have to come out of the grant.

The oysters and equipment would be ruined if they were impacted by freezing temperatures, so he has to store it all in a facility that stays at approximately 38 degrees.

The oyster will go back in the water "right before tax day," and his busy times will begin again. 

A reality he says he wouldn't change for anything. "It is worth every minute, because it has made me enjoy so many sunrises that I wouldn't have seen."

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