One of my dearest friends Allison and her husband Alex have spent years building their oyster farm on Virginia's Eastern Shore. It's Alex’s livelihood and a big part of their family's life with their two little ones, Rowan and Rawley. Last week, a harmful algal bloom moved up the coast and wiped out nearly everything they had: about 4 million oysters, from seed to market-ready, in a matter of days.

Any disaster assistance is uncertain and slow. What's certain is that they'll have little to no income for the next six to twelve months while they rebuild from zero.

With essentially no oysters to sell, Alex expects little or no income from the business for the next 6–12 months as they rebuild. Their cash reserves will likely go toward purchasing new seed, keeping Alex and Simon employed, and getting the farm back up and running. They’re hopeful that some form of financial assistance will become available to help affected farms bridge the gap until they can start harvesting and selling oysters again.

Their goal is simply to keep their family and small farm moving forward through what is going to be a very difficult period.

So I'm asking the people who love them, and anyone who believes in small family farms, to help carry them through. Every dollar goes toward rebuilding the farm stronger, from scratch.

Follow @lambertshellfish on Instagram or Facebook to learn more about the farm and the incredible family behind it.

Here's what happened, in Alex's words:

On Thursday, September 17th at 3:30 PM, I received a text message from a local grower that a suspected harmful algal bloom (HAB) was making its way up the Eastern Shore of Virginia, just south of us.

Friday, September 18th (my 37th birthday) at 8 AM, I got to the farm and noticed thick brown/red water, dead fish along the shoreline, and a strong ammonia smell, like a boat marina.

We scrambled to protect as much of our seed as we could. The following day, we realized that even our larger oysters were dying. Then our next biggest size class. And eventually, our market oysters.

From what we can tell, we’ve lost everything from seed to market, around 4 million oysters in total, with a current estimated value of more than $400,000.

It’s been a surreal week seeing everything we’ve worked so hard for get erased before our eyes in a matter of days.

There are some really great folks here in Virginia working behind the scenes to see if there is any sort of financial assistance available for oyster farms in this area that were completely wiped out by this event. I can’t thank these people enough, and hopefully their efforts will lead to something that can help us and the other affected farms get

through the coming months. Time will tell.

In the meantime, some folks have reached out to ask if there is a way they can help directly. If you’d like to make a donation, I would certainly appreciate it. Any money raised will go toward keeping our employee Simon paid over the coming weeks and months, buying new seed, cleaning up the aftermath, and making improvements to the farm so that we can rebuild and be better prepared for whatever comes next.

This has without a doubt been the most upside-down week I’ve experienced on this oyster journey so far. I really do appreciate all the support. It definitely helps me feel like I’m not alone in this.

Thank you, Alex

Family Info:

Alex is married to Allison, and they have two young children, Rowan (3.5) and Rawley (1.5). The farm has been an important part of their family’s life for many years, and while they’ve been fortunate to have some financial cushion, this event has changed their situation very quickly.