Oregon Public Broadcasting

The gulf oil spill has shut down the oldest oyster shucking operation in the country.

You might think that would translate into more business for Northwest oyster growers. But it's not that simple. Correspondent Austin Jenkins explains.

The P&J Oyster Company has been in operation in New Orleans for 134-years. Not any longer.

The company has halted operations because oil from the BP spill has made it into its harvesting grounds.

Bill Dewey is with Northwest oyster giant Taylor Shellfish. He says the last thing he's thinking about is whether this is good for his business. He calls the folks at P&J his good friends.

Bill Dewey: "We're sick about what's happening there in the Gulf. And we're not out there trying to capture their markets, we're more interested in trying to figure out ways to help them."

Dewey says oyster prices and demand did go up after Hurricane Katrina. That could happen again.

But he notes that Pacific oysters are different from Eastern and Atlantic ones. Plus, oysters from Washington and Oregon are farmed and it takes two to four years to grow them to market size.

Dewey says he can't just ramp up production overnight.