Tuesday, June 15, 2010
It survived Hurricane Camille in 1969. It survived Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It survived more than a century’s worth of economic recessions and depressions. But P&J Oyster Company couldn’t withstand the oil spill of 2010.
First opened for business in 1876, P&J has supplied fresh oysters to New Orleans’ restaurants for 134 years. But with the oil spill causing the closure of oyster beds along the gulf coast, the landmark supplier is ceasing operations, possibly for good.
Sal Sunseri, co-owner and vice president of P&J Oyster, told The New York Times: “I’m optimistic. I believe in God and in miracles.”
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Notes on the End of an Era: P&J Oysters Has Shucked Its Last Oyster (by Karen Dalton Beninato, New Orleans.com)
The Day the Shucking Stopped (by Mireya Navarro, New York Times)
Oil spill: La. Oyster Shuckers Fear for Livelihood (by Kevin McGill, Associated Press)
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