Blue Point oyster farmer grows his business in Great South Bay. Oyster farmer Chuck Westfall of Amityville handles a mesh oyster grow out bag at Blue Island Oyster Farm in Great South Bay. Photo Credit Barry Sloan By Jim Merritt Special to Newsday Updated August 1. AMNow that hes retired, sort of, Chuck Westfall is living the life he dreamed about as a kid growing up in Wantagh, sailing and catching dinner in the waters of nearby Great South Bay. But hes not using a pole, line and lure. I have no time to fish, Im an oyster farmer, Westfall said as he steered his 1. Captree Boat Basin in Babylon. Camera Patch For Canvas Hd on this page. For three decades, Westfall, 6. Amityville, ran a high tech Manhattan sound system business that catered to rock stars and industrial clients. On a warm July weekday, he and fellow oysterman Sean OBrien, 3. Lake Grove, headed for their quiet corner of Great South Bay. Its a 1. 0 minute ride across open water to Blue Island Oyster Farm, where buoys mark the location of growing oysters, and an eagle shaped kite flies overhead to frighten away predators. Its very much like a terrestrial farm, Westfall said, with oysters growing in mesh bags in rows on the bay bottom. The mesh protects the oysters from predatory birds, which could wreak havoc at low tide. An agile figure, Westfall slid from the skiff which has no seats, for maximum workspace into knee deep water. He reached into the murk and hauled up a black mesh bag containing 2. If youre lucky, he said, 5. These look good because we just processed them, Westfall said. The young oysters are run through three or four cycles of drying on the dock and treatment for coral or barnacles that attach to their shells. Westfall co owns and operates Blue Island Oyster Farm with Chris Quartuccio, 5. Sayville, on 5 acres of bay bottom leased annually for 7. Oyster Farmer 2004' title='Oyster Farmer 2004' />Town of Islip. Westfall also owns and works Thatch Island Oyster Farms, on 2. Town of Islip. The partners raise, process and send to market hundreds of thousands of oysters annually, at 5. Their products are slurped down with lemon and hot sauce at restaurants and oyster bars such as The Little Creek Oyster Farm in Greenport. Chef the Farmer Whats the one thing you dont want to be when youve been dying to go to a restaurant for 3 years Disappointed. Good news. I was. INTRODUCTION. Seafood is a nutrientrich part of a healthful diet, and seafood consumption is associated with potential health benefits, including. Agriculture is the cultivation and breeding of animals, plants and fungi for food, fiber, biofuel, medicinal plants and other products used to sustain and enhance. Oceana Coastal Kitchen and Morays outdoor lounge both offer a delicious menu when choosing a San Diego restaurant. We encourage you to visit us for a casual and. ILE DE RE, France, Aug 3 Reuters In a change from chocolates and fizzy drinks, the French are starting to offer fresh oysters from vending machines in the hope of. Eat Right 4 Your Type 1996 is a book that suggests different foods and lifestyles for people with different blood types. It is also known as Eat Right For Your. Get the Biz Briefing newsletter The latest LI business news in your inbox daily. Ian Wile, owner of Little Creek, who buys oysters from 2. Westfalls Thatch Island oysters are not overly sweet or overly salty. Wile said that Westfall is a good advocate for oyster growers around the Island. As gulls cried above, Westfall and OBrien toiled amid a 3. Landmarks such as the Fire Island lighthouse are visible on the horizon. Its pretty pleasant on a day like today, said Westfall, who is bronzed from long days in the sun. But this retirement job is a four season operation. Think of this on March 1. Westfall said. Westfall is one of the pioneers in the revival of Blue Point oysters the name for the legendary bivalves grown in Great South Bay, once produced for worldwide consumption. The industry began to die out after the hurricane of 1. However, Westfall is doing more than trying to turn a profit on the water. Hes also an environmentalist, and believes that oyster farming will help to clean up the waters of the South Shore. Other benefits for this dedicated farmer include robust health he says hes in the best shape in his life and all the oysters he can eat. Quartuccio, a former Long Island Sound commercial oyster diver, credits Westfall with tripling the farms output since he took over daily operations in 2. He turned a small boutique oyster farm I started in 2. Quartuccio, who is also chief decision maker with Blue Island Oyster Co. Its based in West Sayville and has offices in Miami, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. Many of the seed oysters Westfall raises come from the West Sayville Hatchery at Blue Island, which is also part of Quartuccios company. Blue Island oysters from Long Island are shipped all over the United States, Quartuccio said. IN SEARCH OF. OUR WALKER FAMILY GROUPS. WILLIAM WALKER FAMILY William Sr. William Walker b. Orange Co., NC d. Grimsby Twp., Lincoln Co. Westfall might have missed his later life calling but for a serious illness at age 1. He doesnt recall what it was. My mother was upset, so I realized I could leverage this into getting a puppy, he said. His father, an airline pilot who had woodworking skills, nixed the puppy idea but promised something better to build him a sailboat from scratch. It was quite the machine, Westfall said of the 1. Freeport lumber yard. Launching the boat from Seaford and later Wantagh Park, Westfall spent summers sailing in the bay and enjoying the bounty of Long Islands waters. Wed get clams and net crabs, he said, recalling his maritime adventures with friends. Flounder used to run constantly. Clams were found by squishing around with your feet at the shoreline. In a short period of time, you could bring home dinner, Westfall said. After graduating in 1. Gen. Douglas Mac. Arthur High School in Levittown, he rebuilt a motorcycle and headed to California. I wanted to see America, he said. The trek was influenced by the 1. Easy Rider, but the cross country trip ended when his bike broke down in Phoenix. Oyster Farmer 2004' title='Oyster Farmer 2004' />He stayed in Phoenix and in 1. Arizona State University in Tempe. Deciding the electrical engineering field was not for him, Westfall, instead, took a job as a stagehand back in Manhattan. At the time, rock concerts were booming and becoming more high tech. With skills learned in college, Westfall found work setting up top of the line sound equipment for groups such as Crosby, Stills and Nash. In 1. 97. 9, he founded Tapestry, his own company. I was a good technician and could repair and modify things, Westfall said. At its peak, Tapestry had six employees and provided audio production services for special events such as a promo featuring bikini clad models floating down the Hudson River on an artificial iceberg, sponsored by Smirnoff Ice, a malt beverage. He also set up Central Parks Summer. Stage for acts such as Paul Shaffer and the Worlds Most Dangerous Band of Letterman fame. After the 91. 1 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center knocked the business for a loop, Westfall downsized the company, but still accepted some freelance work. Meanwhile, he developed an interest in oyster farming. Over the years Westfall had become concerned with water quality in Great South Bay, and he decided to do something constructive about it. I started reading about the oyster and its good impact on the environment at the same time the Town of Islip was coming up with a lease program for oyster farming, he said. But he knew nothing about the industry. After a little Googling, he found the Suffolk Project in Aquaculture Training SPAT, run by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County. He took a summer course in 2. SPAT, raising oysters for the first time in tanks and alongside docks at a Southold facility, and learning the bag culture method, one of the oyster farming techniques he uses today. About 1. 8 months ago, Westfall completed the last of his freelance sound work and became a full fledged oyster farmer. He figures he spends 3. He and his wife, Ruth Westfall, 6.