And the Winner Is... The 2025 Oyster South Awards

At Oyster South’s 2025 Symposium in St. Augustine, Florida, we were thrilled to announce the new Oyster South awards. During the event, we honored some outstanding oyster-farming supporters and ambassadors.

All the 2025 award winners exemplify the best of the oyster-farming community, and their work parallels Oyster South’s mission to connect communities and provide resources to support oyster farmers, cultivate thriving communities, promote healthy waters and celebrate good food in the southern United States.

Steve and Demi Crockett, the 2025 Oyster South Jules Melancon Award winners

Oyster South presented Steven and Dema Crockett, founders of Point aux Pins oyster farm in Bayou la Batre, Alabama, with the Jules Melancon Award. This award’s namesake was a fourth-generation oysterman who relied on traditional bottom culture, heard about off-bottom oyster farming in 2010, and then started Louisiana’s first off-bottom oyster farm in partnership with Oyster South founding board member, Jim Gossen. The award recognizes an individual, group or organization who, like Melancon, has made significant contributions to the commercial oyster aquaculture community in South and helped Southern shellfish growers thrive by improving oyster production.

Louisiana oysterman and oyster-farming pioneer Jules Melancon.

The Crocketts embody all of this and more. They worked with Auburn University to test various methods of off-bottom production, evaluate growth and survival and develop markets for farm-raised oysters. But beyond their willingness to support the necessary research, Steve and Dema opened their home, pier and oyster farm to visitors – sharing their work freely with future oyster farmers from Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Florida and Texas. At the awards presentation, Oyster South founding board member Bill Walton said, “If you’re farming oysters in the Gulf of Mexico right now, it’s partly because of these two people.”

Birmingham, Alabama, chef Adam Evans, the 2025 recipient of the Jim Gossen Award.

Adam Evans, executive chef and co-owner of Automatic Seafood & Oysters and Current Charcoal Grill, both in Birmingham, Alabama, received the Jim Gossen Award, named in honor of a long-standing proponent of traditional Southern foods. Gossen worked to help commercial fishermen sell their by-catch to reduce fishing waste and was recognized as a Gulf Guardian by the Environmental Protection Agency. He’s been named one of 20 “Food Heroes” by Cooking Light and a Living Hero of the New South by Southern Living. During the presentation, Walton said, “There are three things you need to know about Jim. Jim will drive further than you for good food. He will talk to anyone. And Jim loves this community.” Without Gossen, Oyster South wouldn’t even exist.

Oyster South founding board member Jim Gossen.

It’s only fitting that the award bearing his name recognizes an individual, group or organization who has gone the “extra mile” (like Gossen always will) to increase appreciation of 1) Southern-farm raised oysters, 2) the people who work in the industry, and/or 3) celebrate the culture around Southern farm-raised oysters.

 Evan’s steadfast endorsement of Southern oyster farmers made him a clear choice. The 2022 James Beard Best Chef in the Southeast was an early advocate for premium oysters from the Southern U.S., first while working at Atlanta’s Optimist and now at his two Birmingham restaurants. Evans also hosted one of the first server trainings offered by Oyster South and has been a regular at the annual Oyster South fundraiser, LANDLOCKED, held each October. Julia Sullivan, president of Oyster South’s board, noted, “He just continues to be such an incredible advocate for Gulf Seafood and in particular for Southern oysters, and we're really lucky to have him be a part of this community and to really show chefs like myself and the next generation what's available.”

The Shell to Shore team, recipients of the 2025 Oyster South Environmentalist Award.

Finally, Athens, Georgia-based nonprofit Shell to Shore took home the Oyster South Environmentalist Award, which recognizes an individual, group or organization who has taken extraordinary steps to advocate for and protect the coastal environments that support the southern oyster aquaculture industry. Shell to Shore recycles oyster shells to build living shorelines and oyster reefs and often works closely with Oyster South, including hauling away shells from our annual LANDLOCKED fundraiser. These efforts divert oyster shells from the landfill and return them to the coast, where they help improve the habitat for oysters and other animals around oyster reefs. Since 2021, Shell to Shore has recycled more than 300,000 pounds of shells.

We’re proud to have all the 2025 award winners in the Oyster South family and look forward to honoring next year’s winners and introducing them and their work to you.