Wholesale oyster prices soared to triple digit highs in 2022 and only began coming down late last year. The sheer lack of wild-caught oysters is the biggest supply issue underlying market fluctuations, and industry experts say the problem can be traced back more than 10 years. Branch estimates that up to 60% of the current oyster supply comes from farms — a near-complete turnaround from 20 years ago, when 70% of oysters were wild-caught. Qiu echoed Branch’s assessment, adding that the remaining wild oyster reefs are only a small fraction of their historic numbers. “Climate change is making growth really difficult to be consistent … there’s just a whole lot of things that can go wrong with farming oysters,” Qiu said.

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Persons: that’s, ”, Julie Qiu, Wells Fargo, “ We’ve, David Branch, Qiu, ” Qiu, Gen Z, “ Organizations: New, New York CNN, US Federal Reserve, Food Institute, Branch Locations: New York, Wells Fargo, New York City, Wells, Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana, —