Farm Fresh ~ E.L. McIntosh & Son Oyster Co.

FARM FRESH: GETTING TO THE MEAT OF SOUTHERN OYSTER FARMS

In the South, oyster aquaculture is still a young industry. And a look at any roster of the region’s oyster farmers shows a lot of young faces. But Ernest McIntosh Sr. of E.L. McIntosh & Son Oyster Co. has been immersed in water-work at the center point of Georgia’s coastline for almost 50 years. Seafood has supported his family all the way back to his childhood, when his father started his business.

“I’ve been on the water here all my life,” Ernest says. “I learned from my father. He was doing commercial crabbing for years and built a crab plant that at one time employed 50 people and had five crabbing boats.” Ernest stepped into his father’s shoes, and while the plant closed, he kept the other aspects of the seafood company alive, continuing with crabs and also harvesting wild oysters.

With his decades of experience, Ernest Sr. brings a bumper crop of expertise to his labors. He knows boats. He’s at home on the creeks that slice through the marsh on their way to the Atlantic, intimately understanding their endless ebb and flow and the life they hold. And yet, he’s never been set in his wise ways. With unpredictable catches and wildly swinging prices making profitable crabbing tougher, he began considering some shifts in the business model years ago. “Battling with crabs has gotten hard; I love it and still do it, but it’s so up and down,” he says. “So, a while back, I started thinking about more about oysters.”

Then his son, Ernest Jr., left a career as a towboat captain to join him in the family company, and around the same time, the state of Georgia was testing the aquaculture waters and looking for folks willing to try it. Ernest Sr. knew it was time to try something new: They would branch out into oyster farming, creating E.L. McIntosh & Son Oyster Co. under the E.L. McIntosh & Son Seafood umbrella. “The state wanted seven oyster harvesters to try farming, and we were one those chosen,” Ernest Sr. says.

E.L. McIntosh & Son scored one the largest of those initial leases, which was for oyster farming in cages anchored to the bottom. They dove in and found success. Today, the company is the only one of that first group still at it, and last year, put 800,000 seed into the water. E.L. McIntosh & Son oysters make their way to area Whole Foods grocery stores and are regulars on menus at some of nearby Savannah’s most popular restaurants like The Grey and Husk, which features them every week. They’re frequent stars of the offerings at Kimball House in Decatur, Georgia, too.

The McIntosh harvest is repeatedly snapped up by chefs and eaters thanks to a flavor and feel shaped by the farm’s location, according to Ernest Jr. “Where we farm is key; we are close to the ocean and have great water quality that gives us the right salt all year round and a good texture,” he says. Some also note a sweetness reminiscent of fresh-cut grass in the oysters, likely courtesy of the abundant spartina surrounding the farm.

Soon, McIntosh oyster fans will have more oysters to love. The next step for the business is branching out into off-bottom oyster farming next year, when it’s finally allowed in Georgia. “We have a 10-acre lease for floating cages, and we’ll get started on that soon,” Ernest Sr. says. As the business grows and evolves, he’s standing on a firm foundation of experience but also looking to future generations to secure his family’s legacy. “I have a lot of wisdom, but my son has energy and fresh ideas. So, I listen. You can’t stay stuck in the old ways,” he says. “He knows the water too; he’s been going out on the boat with me since he was a high as a duck. I didn’t realize how much he was picking up back then, but he was learning the whole time.”

The father-son duo is the face of the business, but it’s a true family affair: Ernest Sr.’s nephew is part of the team, as is one of his grandsons. His daughter, Lasonia, is the business’ executive administrator. “We have a lot of kin helping us, about eight of us all together,” Ernest Sr. says.

And the help is crucial; even as E.L. McIntosh & Son changes with the tides, it remains hard work to run it. But it’s good work. “It’s exciting to see something the size of a grain of sand grow into something people really want and know you played a part in that, to know you raised that oyster,” Ernest Sr. says. “I love it.”