The documentary film “Tide to Table” shown at the Chatham Orpheum Theater on Nov. 18 was an ode to oysters and the farmers who grow them.
More than a 100 people attended this latest version of the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance’s Meet the Fleet, which offered oysters from Chatham Shellfish Company and scallop and lobster pizza from the Pizza Shark.
“Seafood goes on anything,” said Jennifer Bryant, director of development for Fishermen’s Alliance, as she welcomed attendees.
Steven Wright and Farran Jalbert, of Chatham Shellfish, and Paul Wittenstein, of ARC hatchery were guest speakers at the event. Wittenstein was also in the movie, a 38-minute romp through oyster history with stops in New York (to talk about the Billion Oyster Project) and Connecticut, which is making moves to become the Napa Valley of oyster production.
Those who had settled in the comfortable chairs at the Orpheum to watch the film from PACE University appreciated the history; oysters used to be sold from street carts, like hot dogs, and were common at bars and dance halls.
Local excitement came in the section of the film dedicated to oyster farmers on the Cape. There were lots of familiar growers, shellfish constables and those in the scientific and support community.
More about the Cape Cod Commercial Fishermen’s Alliance at capecodfishermen.org
