Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas Bierce
Hi Thomas, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Spring 2005 was my first exposure to oyster farming. I was a junior in high school sailing up the east coast aboard the traditionally rigged two masted staysail schooner Westward on a semester at sea program. Our “voyage” covered ports from Venezuela all the way to Halifax Nova Scotia, including Charleston. It was an experience that stuck with me in many ways and was the catalyst that inspired me to get a degree in marine science/ coastal geology, commercial diving, getting my captains license and starting the farm. I made life long friends with the other students and crew who were from all over the US and Canada.
One of the professional crew members, Pete Malinowski, was born and raised on his parent’s oyster farm in Fishers Island NY, which we had the opportunity to visit after having to change course due to a nor’easter. It’s funny to think about how my life would have been different if that storm hadn’t forced us to deviate from our planned itinerary but I’m glad it did. Touring the hatchery and seeing the oyster farm was completely new to me and so were many of the things I witnessed and learned about in the classes we took on board. Marine Science was one of my favorite classes, but we also had, navigation and seamanship, applied mathematics, maritime history and maritime English.
Everywhere we went we learned about that area and even though Fishers Island was not on our original itinerary our educators, and Pete, wasted no time teaching us about the science behind how oyster farms help the environment but also the history of oysters in the area. New York Harbor had 50% of the entire worlds oyster population before it collapsed due to over harvesting. Oyster farming is a way for oysters to be harvested without taking from the wild crop, allowing it to recover and became a necessity in areas that were hit the hardest. South Carolina still has a relatively healthy wild oyster population but in order to maintain that, farms are needed now rather than after we have already taken too much.
After our voyage and getting my degrees from Coastal Carolina University I saw a need for oyster farming in SC because I understood the regenerative ecological benefits they had and after 5 years of permitting my dream became a reality. Pete went on to start one of the largest oyster restoration programs in the world, called the Billion Oyster Project, who’s aim is to put 1 billion oysters back into NY harbor by 2050, enough to filter the entire volume of the harbor every 3 days.
The ripple effect that got me here is proof that you never know where the wind is going to blow you!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has been anything but a smooth ride but if it was easy then everyone would be doing it. I’d say the permitting was the biggest obstacle. since I was one of the first in the state to apply for such an operation, I faced some public push back mostly from people who owned property nearby but I didn’t want to let them set the president that would make it harder for the next guy to overcome so I pressed on. Frank Roberts and Julie Davis of Ladys Island Oyster Co were very helpful as mentors and advocates as well as Cody Lenhardt who recently passed away is someone I definitely owe a lot of gratitude.
As you know, we’re big fans of Charleston Oyster Farm. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
I would like readers to understand what makes this business such a positive element to our ecosystem and economy. the oysters we raise on the farm are not grown using hormones and feed like fish farms, they feed exactly how wild oysters do and are just as nutritious. our “seed” comes from hatcheries where just 2 parent oysters produce millions of larva which are set on tiny fragments of oyster shell that are so small only one larva can fit on each grain which is how they start off as single oysters rather than clusters. the oysters we produce would not exist without us having grown them up on the farms and seeded them and all that shell gets recycled and re planted on shorelines as substrate for larval wild oysters to attach to and create reefs. So farms take pressure off wild oysters and eventually become new wild reefs themselves. Oyster reefs are important habitat for all kinds of wildlife and also help protect against coastal erosion. without in state farms all the restaurants would have to put a higher demand on wild reefs or buy from other states. having healthy waterways and fresh local seafood is defiantly good for the economy in Charleston and drives tourism. We have started offering boat tours of the farm through our partners at Charleston Outdoor Adventure located at Bowens Island Restaurant so we can educate people in depth about the process and history.
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Pricing:
- farm tours $125
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.charlestonoysterfarm.com
- Instagram: charlestonoysterfarm
