The Oystering Life

The Connecticut coastline is heaven for oysters, oyster lovers and for the people who harvest the bivalves from the sea. The protected Long Island Sound, the fresh-flowing rivers, and the broad estuaries provide nearly ideal conditions for oysters to grow and multiply. Oyster Heaven takes the viewer back in history to when oysters were essential to the survival of Native Americans. Then the film explores the oyster boom in the 1900s, when Connecticut became one of the leading producers in the world; the collapse, when overfishing and water pollution nearly destroyed the industry; and today’s rebound, when our centuries-old commercial beds are thriving once again. You will meet a compelling cast of characters, from the grizzled boat skipper to the young female oyster hatchery manager to the last boatwright on the East Coast who still restores oyster boats. It’s the end of an era on the waterfront, but another era is taking shape—one where science and nature live in harmony.