Price of Louisiana oysters on the rise while supply is low

The price of eating oysters has been on the rise for the last two years but it is not slowing down the consumption of them, according to one restaurant owner.
David Bertrand, co-owner of Shuck’s in Abbeville, has seen a slow steady climb in the price of oysters.
In the last year, the price for a dozen raw oysters at Shuck’s has jumped by a $1 dozen. Consumers are paying $13 a dozen for raw oysters.
Bertrand said people are still eating raw oysters. He has his theory as to why the cost has slowly risen.
“It is about supply and demand,” Bertrand said. “People are eating oysters throughout the United States, not just in Louisiana. There is not enough to keep up.”
Bertrand and Bert Istre have co-owned Shucks for the last 8 years. They purchase close to a $1 million worth of raw oysters a year. They are considered one of the top five purchasers of raw oysters in Louisiana and the top purchaser west of Baton Rouge to the Texas.
When they first started at Shuck’s, they had one oyster supplier for their restaurant. Today they have five suppliers, from Venice to Cameron. Bertrand said it takes five suppliers to furnish him with oysters, because there are so few in the Gulf of Mexico.
In eight years, Shuck’s has run out of raw oysters around six times. They did it twice in 2014.
The supply of oysters is about to get less. This week the Texas Department of State Health Services banned harvesting oysters off the coast of Texas due to an algae outbreak in oysters.
In Texas the price of oysters has risen 35 percent and they are having to get their oysters from Washington State and Oregon.
Bertrand predicts consumers in South Louisiana will be able get their fill of oysters but it may cost them a little extra.