Murder Point Oyster Company is putting Alabama oysters on the map

Rows of pilings stretch out into the Gulf of Mexico near Mobile. Lane Zirlott jumps off the dock into the water. He reaches between the pilings and pulls up a PVC pipe with cylindrical baskets attached to it. As the water drains out of the baskets, the contents are revealed: live oysters. Eighty to 100 of them in each basket, to be exact.

Lane and his parents, Brent and Rosa, have been farming oysters for about two years now at Murder Point Oyster Company, but their history in the seafood industry goes back long before that. For five generations, the Zirlott family has been in the commercial shrimping and fishing industries on the Gulf Coast. Brent Zirlott proudly displays his great-grandfather's oyster license from 1892.

The Zirlotts wanted to diversify their options with a foray into the world of farm-raised oysters. They attended a training class and grew 25,000 oysters in the program. They fell in love with the result, and the next year they raised 500,000 oysters on their own.

Despite the fact that Alabama processes the most oysters out of any location along the Gulf Coast, the Alabama oyster has not been a gold star on the oyster connoisseur's list until recently. And in fact, most of the oysters processed in Alabama aren't even from the state.

"Many of the restaurants along our coast are serving Gulf Coast oysters, but a lot of the oysters come in from Florida and Louisiana," Rosa says. "They may have been processed and opened in Alabama, but it's hard to know if it is an oyster that came out of the water in Alabama."

With farm-raised oysters, you know exactly where those oysters are coming from.

Farm raising oysters is something that's fairly new to Alabama. While it's been popular in the Northeast for a while, it's begun to pick up speed here due to the nutrient content of our water. In the North, it takes about two years for an oyster to grow, but in Alabama the oysters grow faster because they have more nutrients to eat. The Zirlotts expect a 14- to 16-month growing process.

Because the oysters are grown in baskets, they are raised above the muddy bottom. That way they get all the nutrients of the water without ingesting any mud. Once a week, they are lifted out of the water for 24 hours to ensure nothing grows on the shell. The oysters are graded and run through a tumbler to polish the shell and keep them smaller with a deep bottom shell (known as the cup).

The result is a creamy, plump oyster with a buttery, fresh, and crisp taste. Some have even compared the taste of the oyster to salted butter. It has been extremely popular on raw bars due to its pristine shell and rich taste.

"We've perfected our oysters for white tablecloth restaurants," Rosa says. "So much labor goes into them and the result really is a beautiful oyster."

It is a process that takes a lot of love and care, but the Zirlotts wouldn't have it any other way.

"We are a family of perfection anyway," Rosa says. "We grow our oysters the very best way we could figure out how to."

Restaurants such as Fishers in Orange Beach and 5 Point Public House in Birmingham have been proponents of Murder Point oysters. The oysters are also shipped around the country to restaurants where the Alabama oyster can be introduced and appreciated.

"There are so many places along the Gulf Coast to get cheaper oysters, but we want people around the country to appreciate the Alabama oyster," Rosa says.

While the Zirlotts have the ability to harvest the oysters year round, the oysters are at their best from October through the winter months, when they really plump up. It rains so much in Alabama from March to May that the salinity of the water reduces and it affects the taste. Rosa prefers a saltier oyster.

Oysters are a reflection of the place they grow. They carry the flavor of each place - the water, the environment, the weather. And the Alabama oyster is one that adds value to the culinary scene with its exquisite and distinctive taste.

"Alabama has a treasure they haven't uncovered until now," Rosa says. "We want people to know this is what an Alabama oyster tastes like."

No matter what terms you use to describe the taste of a Murder Point oyster, there's one thing everyone will agree on: It tastes like Alabama. It tastes like home.

Oysters Worth Killing For

The name for Murder Point Oyster Company came about because the oysters are grown close to an area called Murder Point. Murder Point used to be called Myrtle Point until 1927 when a man was murdered in a fight over some oysters. The Zirlotts thought it seemed fitting to name their company after Murder Point and use the slogan "Oysters worth killing for." And once you try them, you'll probably agree.

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