Harvesting Menus

These women are working to help the waters in their own different ways.

The opportunity for a person to make a living doing what they love while making a real difference is rare. For three local women, the work they do will impact the lives and livelihoods of those in coastal communities for years to come. SARAH DOSS, MARAE WEST, and CHRISTY SWANN are each dedicated to preserving the health and viability of our coastline and waters using their unique passions, talents, and skills.

ARAH DOSS is a true Renaissance woman. As an artist and a restaurateur, she recently added commercial fisher(wo)man and conservationist to her roles.

As co-owner of Rx Chicken and Oysters on Castle Street with her husband, JAMES, Doss is committed to providing customers with the most delicious and sustainable foods available.

“We are spearfishers and divers, so we stay busy fishing during the summer, but it is a challenge during the winter,” she says.

As avid outdoors enthusiasts, the Dosses try to be outside as much as they can, which is part of what drove Sarah Doss to earn her commercial fishing license in 2021, followed by starting their oyster farm in 2022, which got them really into the fishing aspect for the restaurant.

“As a farm-to-table restaurant, it is challenging every day, but during COVID, we took the time to reconnect and to reflect on the things that were most important to us,” Sarah Doss says. “We are outdoor people; it is where we want to be, so we asked ourselves, ‘Can we work this into our lives as business owners?’ It has been a big experiment, but so far, it works.”

The Dosses dive and target invasive lionfish, which are primarily nocturnal, so it is rare to catch them with a hook and line. The lionfish, which are harmful to  native coral reef ecosystems in the Atlantic, have been found in the waters as far north as Rhode Island and have no predators.  According to NOAA, a single lionfish can reduce the recruitment of native fish by 79 percent.

“The best way to kill them is to spear them, and that is a tall task,” Sarah Doss says.

While helping the ecosystem, they are also helping their customers feed their cravings.

“We have a waiting list for lionfish. It is a white fish that is mild and delicate. It is so versatile, for some who don’t even know they like fish, they like it,” Sarah Doss says.

The Dosses have several federal permits for fishing, including one that allows them to fish for grouper and snapper, as well as hogfish, which is a “guest favorite.” They also have a spiny lobster permit, which is not typically on a lot of menus.

In addition, the Dosses farm their own oysters, clams, and mussels. Sharing their yields at the Wilmington Farmers Market, they sell their Topsail and Stump Sound, Lucy Bea oysters, named for their two dogs.

Alongside their former server turned full-time oyster farmer, MATT JEWEL, the Dosses are working to increase their production and expand wholesale oyster sales to regional restaurants.

At Rx, only North Carolina seafood is on the menu, as well as everything else.

“We keep dollars in the local economy. We maintain the farm-to-table ethos. All our meat, pasture-raised chicken, and vegetables come from local, organic farms,” Sarah Doss says. “We support our friends and farmers. It just tastes better when it has just been harvested, not preserved or sprayed with chemicals. It is a different kind of quality.”

To view more of photographer Madeline Gray’s work, go to madelinegrayphoto.com.

Want more WILMA? Click here to sign up for our WILMA newsletters and announcements.