Georgia just wrapped up its first summer oyster harvest season. Traditionally, oyster harvesting was limited to cooler months, with the season closing from May 1 to Sept. 30, when bacteria harmful to humans, like Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus, are most active. New regulations passed by the Georgia Board of Natural Resources’ Coastal Resources Division now permit closed-season harvesting under strict conditions. 

Oyster shells are sourced from Atlanta restaurants, among other partners, and require a monthslong curing period in the sun to eliminate bacteria.

The routine closure comes as oysters enter their spawning season.

Hundreds of people line up to speak as the Atlanta City Council prepares to vote on the proposed police training facility; Fulton County launches a new mobile mental health unit; and oyster harvesting season officially ends in Georgia — we'll tell you whether you can expect more oysters in restaurants across the region. 

Texas closed most public oyster reefs for harvesting, dealing a blow to the fishing industry. "It's taken a big toll on me," says Johny Jurisich, whose family has worked in the business for decades.

Three years after legalizing commercial oyster farming, Georgia’s oyster industry is hampered by a lack of commercial oyster hatcheries and a limited growing season. 

There are more than 1,000 oyster gardens in the coastal waters of Maryland, Virginia, Mississippi and Alabama as volunteers try to restore a keystone of coastal ecosystems.

The man who wants to put more oysters on restaurant platters says Georgia lawmakers may be trying to put a lid on his business.

When Bob Rheault, executive director of the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association, saw legislation written to legalize oyster farming in Georgia, he said his first thought was: “They don’t really want an industry, do they?”

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Georgia was once a leader in the oyster canning business, but the last cannery closed in the 1960s. In the past few years, however, a group of people...

Georgia was once a leader in the oyster canning business, but the last cannery closed in the 1960s. In decades since, the local bivalves had a...

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You can serve them fried, steamed, or raw on the half shell. But oysters probably don't immediately come to mind as a food product of Georgia. Now there...