The Oyster Revolution at Murder Point Oysters

Murder Point Oyster Co is a family owned business committed to bringing you the best oysters, crafted with love, passion, an enthusiasm for the Alabama Gulf Coast’s seafood industry that may just be unprecedented. For the last five generations, the Zirlott family has worked the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, and now they're raising the self labeled “love-crafted oyster”

Murder Point Oysters took its name from local folklore that says years ago, a man was killed in a fight over the lease of the land where Zirlott’s oyster field now sits — thus their motto naturally became Oysters Worth Killing For.

We sat down with Lane Zirlott, the head farmer at Murder Point Oysters to chat about our favorite mollusk.

“What’s going on right now in the oyster industry is a renaissance, a revolution,” said Zirlott. Oysters are so deeply rooted in the culture, but it’s changing. Past generations experienced their oysters bellied up to the bar with a cold beer, saltine cracker, and hot sauce. But that’s not what people want any more. Their desires speak to the food movement as a whole. People want the best quality — they demand it.

And according to Zirlott, “It simply doesn’t get more farm-to-table than raised oysters.” They’re literally raising them, then bringing them straight to your table. Murder Point Oysters are raised in baskets in the open waters of the bay, just west of Bayou La Batre, Alabama. They use a method of longline farming throughout 12 acres of farm waters. Unlike wild oysters, they are able to control the size of the oyster and harvest at just the right time to ensure the perfect salinity.

Murder Point Oysters says that “Anyone can grow an oyster, but not everyone can raise one.” That’s because raising an oyster is an act love. It’s about passion, and people can taste the difference. Sure, you’ll taste the buttery finish a Murder Point oyster offers (the reason for the label #butterlove), but you’ll taste the adoration for the ingredient, the passion for raising them, and the gentle and systematic process in which they handle each oyster (spoiler alert: it’s with love).  

Alabama oysters are typically a wide and flat, 4 to 5 inch, steak of an oyster. But Zirlott and family are tumbling and breaking each shell to encourage them to grow deep, instead of flat. They keep the oysters out of the water 60% of the day because, just like a human’s muscle, you want to condition each oyster to perform. By training them to stay closed, they’re ensuring the best and freshest product ends up on your plate.

The quality is a direct reflection of the pride and passion Murder Point Oysters has for their product. Their goal for the coming year is to raise about 2 million oysters, but getting enough seeds is an issue. As a solution, they’re setting up a hatchery themselves. They’ve brought on marine biologist Ed Stewart to, as adorably Zirlott puts it, "do all of the microscope stuff." They’ll literally take larvae, set them in shells, and produce the oysters from start to finish.

“At the end of the day, no one can tame Mother Nature and we’re subject to what she gives.” The sky’s the limit for the oyster industry, and we on the Alabama Gulf Coast are lucky enough to have a front row seat.

Head to MurderPointOysters.com for more information. We want to know your story. Share it with us using #mycoastalstory!