It was oysters all day at the Lowcountry Oyster Festival. Area businesses joined together to provide some of the best of Charleston cuisine. Whether you’re a dedicated lover of seafood, a fan of the many-varied and nuanced hush puppy, or you just love a good burger and some fries, there was something for everyone – the world was truly your oyster at this event!

And for those who love local and sustainable seafood, the Good Catch and St. Jude Farms tent had just the thing for you.

The Aquarium’s sustainable seafood program, Good Catch, partnered with St. Jude Farms to offer festival-goers a local and sustainable option: delectably briny oysters straight from the ACE Basin. The ACE Basin is a network of islands composed of pine and southern oak trees, thick marsh grasses and winding tributaries, all thriving with healthy wildlife. Fun fact, oysters clean and balance water as well as enhance water clarity – so healthy oysters make for a prosperous ecosystem.

Healthy, local oysters also make for the most scrumptious oysters, if the line at our tent was any indicator. Steam billowed from mountain after mountain of freshly roasted oysters, hot to the touch and ready to be piled into buckets. Once these buckets were filled to the brim (and we mean FILLED to the brim) with the savory, salty treats, we handed them out and sent people over to the shucking station where they could dip, dunk, and drizzle the oysters in their sauce of choice. Though frankly, these oysters were tasty enough to stand on their own!

We are so glad we partnered with St. Jude and the Lowcountry Oyster Festival on this event. With Good Catch and St. Jude’s shared dedication to supporting healthy fisheries and consumption of sustainable seafood, this was the perfect way to come together for a shared cause. It really was a no-brainer!

And speaking of coming together for a shared cause, St. Jude and Good Catch, along with four other Good catch partners, will be combining powers again at our Good Catch Oysterfest! So if you missed out on St. Jude’s incomparable oysters, and you’re sick of us rubbing it in, don’t miss your chance again – this Friday at 6:30 pm!