Norm Bloom & Son Copps Island Oysters
As many of you know, one of my favorite foods is oysters. I love serving oysters at parties out on my large porch, where guests can gather and enjoy this delicious seafood delicacy. Among my favorite suppliers is Norm Bloom & Son Copps Island Oysters - a source I’ve used for many years.
Norm Bloom & Son is a fourth generation family-owned oyster farm located in Norwalk, Connecticut - the oyster capital of the world since the 1800s. Norm founded his company in 1994, with a crew of three and one boat. Today, he has a fleet of 15-boats and a dedicated and knowledgeable crew that harvests year-round from the deep, cold, nutrient-rich Connecticut coast waters. Norm provides high quality and sustainable oysters to customers across the nation - mostly to restaurants and other large order clients.
We visited Norm Bloom & Son Copps Island Oysters not long ago. Here are some photos - enjoy.
-
- Jimmy is Norm’s son and the principal oyster harvester. He manages the day-to-day farming operations for the company. Jim and his crew go out into Norwalk Harbor several times each day to harvest loads of oysters. Although this day was very cloudy with showers, the temperatures were mild for this time of year and the waters were quite calm.
-
- Here is the front of the main office at the boatyard, located just off Norwalk Harbor. This operation is now one of the largest oyster farms on the east coast.
-
- We made a brief stop in the company museum, which houses an extensive collection of shellfish memorabilia and other items explaining the history of this valuable local industry.
-
- The museum is housed in a converted two-car garage. An entire wall of shelves features a collection of colorful vintage tins in various sizes, showing how oysters were sold over the years.
-
- The museum also features photos, and other packaging labels and shellfish collectibles.
-
- The process of cleaning the oyster meat hasn’t changed much at all. This is an old machine used to wash and drain the meat before it was packaged into cans.
-
- Here is an old photo showing the oyster meat falling into one of the tins before being sealed and shipped.
-
- Here is a view of Long Island Sound from the front yard of Norm Bloom & Son Copps Island Oysters. The company farms oyster beds from Greenwich to Stonington, Connecticut and is one of the last standing traditional oyster farms in the United States.
-
- Here is Jimmy coming in on his boat, the Grace P. Lowndes, the same boat his father, Norm, and his grandfather, Norm, Sr., had captained.
-
- With each run, cages and cages of oysters are brought back to the docks for unloading and sorting.
-
- These cages are from only one trip out to the harbor – Jimmy and his crew will go back out two more times before the day is over.
-
- Cages with spikes are dropped into the water and dragged along the sea floor to scoop up the oysters. Then they are collected in giant cages on the boat. Each cage is offloaded by forklift and transported to the processing room.
-
- Here is a closer look at one of the full cages.
-
- This is the processing room where thousands of oysters are sorted and washed. The longtime crew has established a very efficient production line.
-
- When the cage’s hatch is raised, the oysters come tumbling down. The crew uses a stainless steel bar called a “chipping tool” to clear away debris from the shells.
-
- The oysters then go into another cage ready for cleaning. Oysters that are too small and too young, less than three years, are tossed back into the water until they are more mature.
-
- The oysters are then put through a giant washing machine – the final step before packaging.
-
- Oysters must always remain cold – below 40-degrees Fahrenheit. During winter, this is not a challenge, but in the summer months, oysters are kept in enclosed bins filled with ice made right at the boatyard.
-
- Here is where the oysters are stored as they wait to be packaged for delivery, or brought into another room for shucking.
-
- In another part of the facility, some of the oysters are shucked before shipping. Here, three shuckers separate the meats from the shells using these helpful tools – the one in the foreground designed and built right here at the company.
-
- Shucking Supervisor, Alan Sharkany, explains how the shelled oyster meat is tossed nto a skimmer tank filled with water and then spun with air in order to separate any dirt, sand or shell particles, which fall through the holes in the tub’s grate.
-
- Here is the inside of the large tub. Once the meat is cleaned, it is then drained and collected into smaller containers. The freshly packaged oysters are shipped usually within a day. This room is also very cold – to keep all the meat fresh and safe.
-
- In 2015, Norm’s daughter, Jeanne, opened “The Oysterman’s Daughter”, a small retail shop located at the boatyard, where boaters and beach lovers are able to shop for sea inspired pillows, hats, candles, and sweatshirts along with fresh oysters, clams and even lobsters.
-
- One wall of the store is decorated with boxes showing the company’s logo. With more than 12-thousand acres of oyster farms, Norm Bloom & Son Copps Island Oysters sells at least 20-million oysters wholesale every year.
-
- Here is a flag flying high above the docks. To learn more about Norm Bloom & Son Copps Island Oysters, and how to shuck oysters, go to their web site. http://www.coppsislandoysters.com/
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
