Boston Museum of Oysters - Help make it happen.

Submitted by:
Richard D. Rush, Editor in Chief, Oyster Information newsletter

Please allow me to take this opportunity to make you aware of the "BMIP" (Boston Marine Industrial Park) art competition underway sponsored by the City of Boston Art Commission.

As you will find, I have submitted an entry entitled "Boston Museum of Fine Oysters." It suggests a small kiosk that will contain an oyster exhibit featuring significant scientific subjects, sea farming, and the social history of the edible oyster.

The winning art competition entries will go on temporary exhibit in the South end of Boston at one of three predetermined sites. The emphasis of the exhibit is innovation and the new marine industrial park. The marine industrial park itself is designed to emphasize local seafood. The authors of the competition have posted all of the entries on the Boston Art Commission Facebook website for viewing. They have encouraged Facebook members to indicate their entry preferences with the typical "like" sign. It is not yet clear whether the "like" scores will impact the final selection.

Please take a few moments and review the entries. If you feel so inclined, and have a Facebook account, indicate your preference for the Oyster Museum idea. I believe the entire oyster community will benefit from the success of this idea - and I will get my 15 minutes of fame.

For more information, contact Richard through his website.

Oyster Apps for your iPhone

With Verizon introducing the iPhone last month, it allowed my wife to have one of her dreams come true - to own an iPhone. Naturally because she got one, I "had" to get one as well.

As I began searching for apps, my mind wondered toward oysters and seafood. To save you some time searching, here are four apps for you to consider adding to your iPhone:

- Seafood Watch - free from iTunes. This free app is for those interested in sustainable seafood.

"Sustainable seafood is seafood from either fished or farmed sources that can maintain or increase production in the future without jeopardizing the ecosystems from which it was acquired. The sustainable seafood movement has gained momentum as more people become aware about both overfishing and environmentally-destructive fishing methods."

Use the app to find out which fish and sushi are "Best Choices," "Good Alternatives" and which to "Avoid." GPS allows the app to point you in the direction of sustainable seafood near you and you can contribute to the app by adding the names of restaurants and stores where you've found ocean-friendly seafood. This app is maintained by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch Program.

- Fish4Health - free from iTunes. Given my wife is now pregnant with our second child, we love this free app! It provides advice for pregnant and nursing women (by the way, more women should breastfeed!) and for women who may become pregnant. It also provides information for children ages 2-6 years. This app also explains the benefits of eating fish, how much to eat, fish consumption advice, and information about avoiding eating raw fish while pregnant or being too young. Other great features include: Recipes and a log called "MyLog" to help pregnant women watch Mercury intake.

Unfortunately for my wife, the app validates what we already knew, "Pregnant women should not eat raw oysters." Don't worry Rachel, August will be here soon enough and I'll get you plenty of oysters to shuck and eat!

- Oysterguru - on sale from iTunes for $1.99. This great app allows you to:

1. Search over 350 North American Oyster entries alphabetically, by region, or by salinity;
2. See individual flavor profiles and the time of year it is farmed;
3. Save your favorites, add your own notes, ratings and flavor profiles
4. Find restaurants that sell oysters, and;
5. Allows you to shop for oysters to be shipped to you.

- Oysterpedia - on sale from iTunes for $1.99. This cool app allows you to start your search by West Coast or East Coast. Choose East Coast and you are brought to an alphabetical listing of most of the East Coast oysters. Click on the name for a photo and detailed information about the oyster. Then you can rate the oyster, or post comments directly to Twitter and Facebook. The color photos are a nice touch and I enjoy reading the the Notes that describe what Oysterpedia knows about the oyster and farmer.

I'm glad I was able to find and share these apps for the iPhone. They provide additional ways to enjoy oysters and seafood and help us to be a little more educated.

If you know of any noteworthy seafood or oyster apps, feel free to let us know about them.