Oysters. The Sign of Winter

Oysters….it's a sure sign of winter on Goose Creek Island.  Tables lined with newspapers, vinegar and hot sauce in bowls, saltine crackers, and a bushel of steamed oysters piled high on the table.  This is good stuff!

            Oystering in the winter has always been a primary source of income for most island families.  Most island watermen use oyster dredges out along Pamlico Sound and River.  Slowly pulling their “drudges” along the numerous oyster lumps bring in some of the best succulent oysters around. 

            In the past, oysters were carried up the Pamlico River to Washington or sold to shucking houses that flourished along the Pamlico River or Sound in communities of Rose Bay, Swan Quarter or Belhaven.  These shucking houses were major employers in those communities plus providing a source of commerce to the watermen of Goose Creek Island.

            Today, most watermen “peddle’ their oysters locally or sell to a few select wholesalers who transport them to other markets along eastern North Carolina.  The oyster shucking houses that dotted our shorelines in years past have all closed except for one in Rose Bay.  Oyster shells have built many roads here, filled many pot holes, served as erosion control barriers, and even continue to serve as fertilizer for our fig trees.  

            The next time you sit down to a big table of steamed oysters, think about our fathers, grandfathers and uncles who toiled in the frigid waters of Pamlico Sound in howling Northeast winds in back breaking conditions to sustain their island families of years past.  It’s a part of who we are.