The winter that killed the oyster renaissance

Cages owned by Peconic Gold Oysters were damaged during a cold snap in late February which hit Peconic Bay in the North Fork of Long Island in New York. — Janice Chung/The New York Times

PETER Stein stood on a dock on Peconic Bay, New York, and stared at the wreckage.

After weeks of being seized in ice off the East End of Long Island, hundreds of his oyster cages were now broken and scattered all over the bay.