When Daniels has the sorter processing oysters, “it’s like thousands of alarm clocks going off at one time.” A metal cylinder with different-sized holes turns and separates oysters by size. And so the idea of the aquaculture operation was born. Anyhow, it made me think of something we could do at home,” he says. Photo by E-Ching Lee.Īnd he prefers it to his previous job that required him to spend a lot of time in Virginia, where the family seafood business has another location. “It’s got a good view.”įrom his “office,” Daniels can see the Bodie Island Lighthouse. The wind is still, the birds are silent and the low afternoon sun glitters. He works within view of the Wanchese Fish Company, a business started by his greatgrandfather about 75 years ago and now run by his father, aunts and uncles.ĭaniels stands on a barge in the middle of his lease, looking out on the calm water that is as smooth as glass. They are bordered on one side by the Cape Hatteras National Seashore, watched over by their namesake Bodie Island Lighthouse, and protected on the southeast by Oregon Inlet.
On his 10-acre lease, Daniels’ bivalves have a front seat to iconic Outer Banks landmarks. “They’re going to set the standard for North Carolina,” Turano predicts. “They’re both very active and very willing to try things that others aren’t to see what works. Even though Turano no longer is with Sea Grant, Daniels and Matteo still call him for advice. He’s worked with both men to help them set up their operations and determine what would work in their specific locations. Turano sees many similarities between the self-professed “dock brat” from the Outer Banks and the former hedge-fund trader who grew up in the Northeast. So says Marc Turano, former North Carolina Sea Grant mariculture and blue crab specialist. These guys know their oysters - and are open to using novel methods to grow their businesses. The salinity of his oysters is slightly affected by wind tides. It was 28 degrees and there was a bear on my driveway,” he recalls.īased on the wind direction that morning, “they might be a little saltier than normal,” he explains. This northern transplant is armed with years of personal research, and strong support from his wife and her family, North Carolina natives with roots at the coast.Īt the Raleigh Farmers Market, Matteo pauses briefly to remember when he harvested the oysters being sold a few steps away.
He put seed into the creek, off the Bay River, last spring and started selling his oysters before Halloween. In two years, he’s grown his venture into one of the largest oyster producers in the state.įarther south, Chris Matteo established his own aquaculture venture, Chadwick Creek Oysters. “What? You think I’m kidding?” he demands, with a chuckle.ĭaniels, who runs the Bodie Island Oysters aquaculture operation for Wanchese Fish Company, should know. Then he tosses the shell back into the water with a flick of his blue-gloved Daniels, the fourth generation of a Wanchese fish house family, is showing a visitor around his oyster lease - a guest who laughs at his bold declaration. “Twenty-four parts per thousand,” he announces, stating a level of saltiness for the oyster. Joey Daniels shucks an oyster he just pulled from the Roanoke Sound and pops it into his mouth. Joey Daniels grows oysters in the Roanoke Sound.
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