Locally Grown Oysters are Good to Go After Oyster Festival Faces Many Ups and Downs

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ARCATA (KIEM) – The Arcata Main Street team and local oyster farms have been working tirelessly since last night.

Searching for alternatives to try and bring oysters to tomorrow’s festival, after a state health department error. Now the locally farm grown oysters are good to go.

Oyster lovers can breathe a sigh of relief.

“Well I’m just so happy that we are actually able to use Humboldt Bay oysters because the oyster festival is a celebration of our local aquaculture,” said Arcata Main Street President Victoria Joyce.

Last night, Arcata Main Street and other oyster farms around the North Coast got a call from the CDPH. They were told there was high level of bacteria called Vibrio Parahaemolyticus or  V.P., commonly found in shellfish.

“It’s gut wrenching but at the same time it’s something you learn to deal with,” said Greg Dale, Operations Manager for Coast Seafoods.

But that all changed this morning, when a math error was found in the test results.

“God bless them for finding it and taking care of it and reversing the decision to close the bay,” said Dale.

DHHS released a statement saying “We realize this couldn’t have come at a worse time, and we apologize for the upset it has caused.”

But even if there would be no homegrown oysters, organizers would still make the event happen.

“We would’ve re-structured the event for the day off but other than that we would’ve have something,” said Arcata Main Street Board Member Dave Neyra.

They worked to find alternatives, searching for a way to get oysters to the festival.

“After the phone call we all got together, put our heads together and decided we weren’t going to stop,” said Dale.

But since then, a huge weight has been lifted.

“We’re really happy for the local vendors and the local oysters farmers because it would’ve been a considerable loss for them because they plan on this event all year long,” said Neyra.

The 29th Annual Oyster Festival kicks off tomorrow.