Fledgling Georgia oyster fishery held back by limits

oysters
This March 27, 2008 file photo shows a freshly harvested Apalachicola Bay oyster in Eastpoint, Fla. (AP Photo/Phil Coale, File)

In a bustling seafood kitchen outside Atlanta, chefs scramble to shuck and prepare plates of fresh, glistening oysters for the lunch rush — but the mollusks are from Maine, not the Georgia coast some 200 miles East.

Rich Clark, the owner of C&S Seafood & Oyster Bar in Vinings, said he buys Georgia oysters on the rare occasions he can find them because they have a wonderful, unique flavor that combines the brine of the cold water Northern oysters with the plump texture and mildness associated with those from the Gulf.

“I would prefer to buy straight from the farmer,” said Clark.