37th Annual North Carolina Seafood Festival
Oyster Shucking Contest
Join us to celebrate the WORLD’S BEST OYSTERS on
Saturday, October 7th and Sunday, October 8th at the 37th Annual North Carolina Seafood Festival! Once again, we have expanded our seafood celebration to include an Oyster Shucking Contest. We invite all amateur shuckers to register at the event on Saturday. The professional Oyster Shucking Shoot Out™ contestants can
register online at www.ncoyster365.com, www.NCSeafoodFestival.org or at the Festival with a $25 entrance fee. Professional shuckers must be registered by 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, October 7th. The professional Oyster Shucking Shoot Out ™ will be held in multiple heats on Sunday, October 8th.
We especially encourage contestants from the seafood industry, shucking houses, restaurants, and oyster farms to come out and show your talents. We will host several contests throughout the day for men and women. The competition will be spectacular to witness and there will never be a dull moment! The best oyster shuckers will go head-to-head in a final competition!
The Oyster Showcase and Shucking Contest are brought to you by the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, North Carolina Shellfish Growers Association, NCOyster365, Dexter Knives, Full Moon Oyster Bar, Outer Banks Boil Company, and Sandbar Oyster Company.
Competition format: The Oyster Shucking Shoot Out™ will consist of timed trials where contestants will shuck six (6) locally grown oysters. Each oyster will be from a different North Carolina shellfish farm. A wild harvest oyster will also be included in the selection. All oysters will be randomly selected by the judging committee. The contestant will remove the oysters from the container provided and arrange for shucking. At the signal of the Chief Judge, the timekeepers will start their stopwatches and the shuckers will commence shucking. Contestants must place each oyster on an unbroken half-shell and arrange neatly on a tray provided. When a contestant has finished shucking and is satisfied with the arrangement of shucked oysters, he/she will raise their hands and the timekeepers will stop their stopwatches. When the shuckers raise their hands, the judges will take over the tray of oysters and begin judging each oyster. The shucker may not touch the tray of oysters after they have signaled completion.
All rulings by judges are final. Presentation is of utmost importance. An appetizing arrangement of oysters will be rewarded. Judges will add penalties to shucking time accordingly:
● An oyster not completely severed from shell ……….………….add 2 seconds
● An oyster presented on a broken shell……………….…………….add 1 second
● An oyster presented with grit, or other foreign substance…………add 1 seconds
● A cut oyster………………………………………………………..….add 1 seconds
● An oyster not placed properly in the shell………………………add 1 seconds
● A missing oyster……………………………………………………..add 10 seconds
The Chief Judge will declare the winner by the shucker with the fastest time, including all penalties and bonuses. Amateur contest will be judged based primarily on time without penalties. In the event of a tie or very close finish times the judges will award the winner with the best shucked oysters based on the criteria listed above.
The NC Seafood Festival assumes no liability for injury. Shuckers may wear their own gloves and use their own knives, however, gloves and knives will be provided so that everyone can compete!