Oyster farmers who feared going broke brace for a ‘bonkers’ summer
When restaurants closed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the nationwide market for oysters cratered. That’s not the end of the story. From left, Megan Kelly, Lisa Calvo, a marine scientist at Rutgers University, and Steve Evert, who runs the marine field station at Stockton University, empty bags of oysters on a boat in Port Republic, N.J., on Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. Hannah Yoon/The New York Times By Tracey Tully, New York Times Service June 14, 2021 | 7:26 PM
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A year ago, oyster growers who farm New Jersey’s marshy coastal inlets and tidal flats were fighting for survival.
“The truth of the matter is, if we didn’t apply pressure nothing would’ve happened,” Monica Cannon-Grant, an advocate who has been serving as a spokesperson for Miller’s mother Calvina Strothers, said in a video interview May 26. “We watched it happen in the George Floyd case. They were like, ‘It was a medical situation’ and they weren’t going to file any charges. People hit the streets for a whole year we protested and charges were brought.”
But should it take intense pressure, protests or hashtag campaigns to increase transparency in ongoing investigations? If a family believes their loved one’s case isn’t being properly handled, or that key details are being wrongfully withheld, what happens if that family’s pleas for transparency don’t go viral?