No shellfish in the last decade has been covered in the New Jersey media nor talked about on the coast as much as oysters. The bivalve, once nearly extinct locally, has been one of our local waterways’ greatest success stories, thanks to renewed shellfish farming and the oyster becoming a favorite seafood.

But this summer, oyster farmers, suppliers, seafood restaurants and customers are all dealing with an oyster shortage, thanks to last winter’s deep freeze and a lethal parasite called MSX,…