cull them in place, We say

Reseeding the Oyster Beds While Harvesting Supports Regeneration.

Maggioni Oyster Company’s oysters are primarily harvested by independent local contractors who are given permission to harvest from our private oyster culture leases.

While harvesting the wild oysters, we insist that all of our contractors “cull them in place.”

Culling the wild clusters in place means that the oystermen chop-off the dead shell and small oysters while out on the oyster bed. This added step helps reseed the beds with small live oysters and provides dead shell for other oyster larvae to attach to and regenerate.

Culling in place not only reseeds beds, and helps keep them alive, but also reduces the amount of weight the picker has to carry back to the processing plant — it’s better for our gear and our backs.