I have a BA in film and animation and worked in that industry for about 15 years . I wanted a life change and a career that would keep me more grounded with the Earth and contributing something positive toward climate change and the environment . So I went to work on an oyster farm , for free , while still keeping my video job . I would take a camera with me and document my work days , slowing creating a documentary and video log of what I was being taught . After 23 years of working on the farm and getting paid in oysters , I decided it was time to get my own farm , and so I applied . It took another 23 years to get through the application process and finally get awarded my farm . All the while I am working for oysters a few hours a week on this guys farm while holding down my video job . Meanwhile , My brother , who has a degree in finance starts to see how much fun I ' m having working in this farm and we run the numbers . Turns out we can make a good amount of money doing this , we can use our degrees in this profession , it ' s going to be a lot of fun owning a farm , and it ' s going to better our environment . So we go all in . Oyster farming is not cheap to get into . It requires a lot of time and money something we didn ' t have much of . Luckily there was two of us , to share the time and expenses . Most things can ' t be bought we had to build them . Then there ' s the time factor of growing oysters . An oyster on your plate takes about 3 years to grow before it gets there . We are now going into our 3 rd year . We have been gradually selling more and more oysters every year while both still holding down our video and finance jobs self employed . Next year we will have 300 , 000 oysters finally come to market , and we can make the career shift to full time ocean farmers .