![]() ![]() They grow at very different rates so you sort them to size and try to keep like-sized oysters together,” he continued. “By the end of year two, I’ll have some fast growers that are 3 inches long and ready to sell, but I’ll also have some that are still only 1 inch. The next year or two is spent getting the oysters into larger-mesh-size bags to allow more water flow and making sure they’re clean of algae, barnacles, and other creatures. I then sort them to size and lower the bag density to around 250 per bag,” he said. By the end of the summer, if all has gone well, those oysters will be around 1 inch long. “I start my little guys at the ratio of around 1,000 per bag. Gott prefers an off-the-bottom, suspended culture system where the spat are hung in bags off lines strung between buoys. Bottom-cultured oysters grow in cages on the ocean floor. There are two different ways to grow oysters: bottom culture and off-the-bottom culture. “After I get the spat, I set them out in the river in mesh bags that are placed in cages and are suspended in the water by floats,” he explained. When the spat reach the size of about a quarter-inch they are ready to be farmed, and that is when Gott gets them. During their first year, the company keeps the spat in an upweller (a device that continuously flows seawater over the tiny oyster so that it can rapidly grow). Gott purchases his baby oysters, which are called spat, each spring from Muscongus Bay Aquaculture in Bremen. “This summer I’m starting 70,000 oysters, which is big for me but still a very small operation in the aquaculture world,” he said. Once he became comfortable with the art and science of making his oysters happy, he began gradually growing his business. He started his operation with 10,000 baby oysters and remained with no more than 10,000 for the first couple of years. “He told me, ‘Take your punches and learn the hard way with less at stake.’ So I did,” he said. “A full lease is more complicated and involves public hearings, site reviews and additional paperwork,” Gott continued, “and there are grants are available to help with the start-up.”Īfter obtaining all the permits, Gott took the advice of Morse and started small. Obtaining a small lease involves finding open, clean water in the desired area, getting the local town to sign off on the use of that water, completing the state application and getting approval from the Army Corps of Engineers. A full lease that allows much more space in multiple acres costs $1,500 in the form of a non-refundable application fee and then $100 an acre a year,” he explained. “A small lease is called an LPA and allows 400 square feet of gear and costs $50. It took Gott approximately two years to obtain permits and complete the submerged lands lease process before he could start his business. Basically if it wasn’t for Dana’s advice I’m pretty sure I’d still be trying to figure it out,” he said. “Luckily I stumbled on an article that mentioned Dana Morse from Maine Sea Grant. He started investigating the process of growing oysters in 2009 by reading anything he could find on the subject. I believe it holds an important role in our world’s future, and I personally wanted to grow oysters because I love them,” Gott said. ![]() “I have always loved the idea of aquaculture. He raises baby oysters in mesh bags inside floating cages in an area of the Webhannet River in Wells Harbor known as Pope’s Creek. Gott is the proprietor, farmer, and sole employee of Pope’s Creek Oysters. Gott feels that fishing experience has given him an advantage in the small aquaculture business he owns and operates today. Kennebunkport native Erin Gott, 41, grew up lobstering during the summer and fishing for groundfish and shrimp in the winter with his father, Jim Gott, on his boat the F/V Shannon. In 2016, she bought the old Grissini space in Kennebunk, turning the downstairs into Spat Oyster Cellar, a cozy, 40-seat oyster bar inspired by turn-of-the-century New York oyster cellars.First published in Landings, August, 2016 ![]() Rebecca had always wanted to return and open a restaurant there. In 2003, Pearl expanded into the space next door adding 35 seats-all tables! That was also the year she released her cookbook/memoir, Lobster Rolls & Blueberry Pie: Three Generations of Stories and Recipes from Summers on the Coast of Maine , published by Harper Collins. It was also a gathering place for the neighborhood in times of trouble, especially September 11, 2001. This allowed the Chef to bring food to customers herself, which still continues today, and created a convivial atmosphere with people up and down the bar talking to one another, discussing food trends, etc. Pearl started as a 22-seat food bar with a single table-many nights fights broke out in line over that table-and an open kitchen, one of, if not the first, in NYC. ![]()
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