Article: Retail demand is driving bull market for upscale product on the half-shell.(NORTHEAST: OYSTERS)

Virginia oyster growers saw a significant bump in their fledging industry's sales in 2007. It's a sign that cultivated Chesapeake oysters can capture some of the retail revival that's bringing New York City money to eastern Long Island.

"The market is incredibly strong now for farm-raised oysters and quality wild oysters," says Chris Quartuccio, a grower on Long Island's Great South Bay who owns the Blue Island Oyster Farms and Blue Island Seafood Market in Sayville, N.Y.

The half-shell trade is one sector of the market with little foreign competition.

"It's much more difficult to ship a live oyster from China," says Gregg Rivara, an ...

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