Tide to Table: Family-run N.S. oyster farm emphasizes sustainability
An oyster farm in southwestern Nova Scotia is on a mission to make sure their consumers know exactly where the food they enjoy is coming from.
Nolan D’Eon is better known as ‘the oysterman’ around southwestern Nova Scotia.
“It’s great. I’ve even got a number plate that says ‘The Oysterman,” laughs D’Eon.
Since 1996, D’Eon Oyster Company has been challenging traditional methods of oyster farming with an innovative approach and an eye on shellfish sustainability.
After many years working at sea, D’Eon took a leap of faith and started his own oyster farming company 25 years ago.
“With the kids, we used to go swimming in Eel Lake. They would get cut by oysters, which was a bad thing then, and then I realized… I said to Kim, my wife, ‘someday, I’m going to make a living out of these’,” recalls D’Eon.
D’Eon’s first lease was about five acres of growing space, but over the past 25 years, that has grown to 50 acres of oyster farm in Lower Eel Brook, N.S.
Now, D’Eon Oyster Company ships natural grown oysters to countries around the world – and they truly are a family business.
Nolan’s youngest son Colton D’Eon is the company’s operations manager, and specializes in looking for innovative ways to make the oyster farm more sustainable and environmentally friendly.
“We’re ever changing. The science behind growing an oyster doesn’t change a lot, but how we as a company can make changes to become more sustainable.” says Colton D’Eon. “I find oyster farming itself is extremely sustainable, so our practice is on, how can we grow these, or what steps we are going to take moving forward. It’s something that really inspires me.”
Since 2019, every single oyster farmed by the D’Eon’s is processed in the company’s off-grid, solar powered processing barge.
Colton says it’s important for consumers to understand the story behind the food they’re eating.
“We love our customers to know that, number one, it’s our oysters are a quality top-shelf product, grown locally in Nova Scotia, and that they derive from a sustainable source,” explains D’Eon.
When it comes to the future of oyster farming in Lower Eel Brook, Colton is hopeful that his two sons will someday continue growing that their grandfather started.
“It’s sort of a legacy,” says Colton. “I followed in my father’s footsteps, and hopefully they will as well.”
“It took 25 years doing it, but it’s taken it’s time for people to realize that there is an oyster grown in southwest Nova Scotia, and it’s called a D’Eon oyster,” says Nolan.
A company built on family values, with a passion to share Nova Scotia’s oyster aquaculture with the world.
This story is part of CTV News at Five's Tides and Tables series. To see more visit tidesandtables.ca
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Health Canada to change sperm donor screening rules for men who have sex with men
Health Canada will change its longstanding policy restricting gay and bisexual men from donating to sperm banks in Canada, CTV News has learned. The federal health agency has adopted a revised directive removing the ban on gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men, effective May 8.
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer denied bail after being charged with killing Canadian couple
American millionaire Jonathan Lehrer, one of two men charged in the killings of a Canadian couple in Dominica, has been denied bail.
LeBlanc says he plans to run in next election, under Trudeau's leadership
Cabinet minister Dominic LeBlanc says he plans to run in the next election as a candidate under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's leadership, amid questions about his rumoured interest in succeeding his longtime friend for the top job.
Grandparent scam suspects had ties to Italian organized crime, police allege
A group of suspects that allegedly defrauded seniors across Ontario and other parts of Canada using a so-called emergency grandparent scam appear to have ties to 'Italian traditional organized crime,' according to an investigator involved in the OPP-led probe.
Sports columnist apologizes for 'oafish' comments directed at Caitlin Clark. The controversy isn’t over
A male columnist has apologized for a cringeworthy moment during former University of Iowa superstar and college basketball’s highest scorer Caitlin Clark’s first news conference as an Indiana Fever player.
Trend Line Anger, pessimism towards federal government reach six-year high: Nanos survey
Most Canadians in March reported feeling angry or pessimistic towards the federal government than at any point in the last six years, according to a survey by Nanos Research.
B.C.'s short-term rental regulations include $10K daily penalties for Airbnb, other platforms
Short-term rental platforms that violate B.C.'s pending regulations can face administrative penalties of up to $10,000 per day, officials announced Thursday.
Closing arguments heard in trial for Sask. dad accused of abducting daughter
Closing arguments were heard Thursday morning in the case of Michael Gordon Jackson, the Saskatchewan man accused of abducting his daughter in 2021 to keep her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine.
Cat found on Toronto Pearson airport runway 3 days after going missing
Kevin the cat has been reunited with his family after enduring a harrowing three-day ordeal while lost at Toronto Pearson International Airport earlier this week.