Husband and wife Peyton and Taylor Mason are a reflection of (older) days as the young couple has recently opened Virginia Oyster Co. LLC at Hayes. Peyton is the grandson of the late Edward Mason, who some recall was a longtime Middlesex County oysterman who worked out of Locklies Creek.
Peyton works public oyster grounds in the state of Virginia’s hand dredge, patent tong and hand shaft tong fisheries. During the public oyster season the state of Virginia rotates oyster grounds for conservation reasons. Part of the rotation is associated with gear and Peyton most recently was hand tonging in the James River on rotational grounds set aside exclusively for hand tongers.
The couple owns Virginia Oyster Co. LLC that is located in Gloucester County. They have a small shucking house. They market oysters at farmers markets and sell to local restaurants. For the most part they have cut out the middle man — oyster buyers and oyster shucking houses that historically controlled price and market. If there was no market for the buyer, there was no market for oystermen.
They sell their shucked oysters in pints and quarts and to the boxed half-shell market to bars and restaurants…
Be sure to check out the rest of this story on our 2-page spread in this week’s Sentinel, “Farm to Bay to Table.”
