Queen of the Seas: The Story of Joanna Fogg and Bar Harbor Oyster Company
Joanna Fogg is a mythological human with a combination of qualities I did not think could coexist in one being. In June of 2015, Joanna and Jesse Fogg applied for a limited purpose aquaculture lease to begin Bar Harbor Oyster Company, a 22-acre oyster farm in Mount Desert Narrows. Joanna works full-time as a mother, wife, aquaculturist, event planner, and Mount Desert Island community member.
I pulled into the boat launch at Hadley Point on the Northeast point of Mount Desert Island just as the sun had begun its slow ascent into the early morning sky. The crystal waters of the Mount Desert Island Narrows were a perfect mirror of the heavens, with darker shades of blue softening into a golden stratosphere.
My travel companion and fellow oyster aficionado, Natalie, and I exited my Jeep with our boat boots in hand. After several days of camping in the Acadia region, we needed an oyster farm visit to make our journey complete. Upon stepping into the sunlight, we were instantly hit by a wave of humid August air.
“I’m definitely getting in the water with those Bar Harbor oysters today,” Natalie remarked, “you don’t think she’ll mind?” she inquired, deadpanned, as we wandered to the boat launch in search of Joanna Fogg, the co-owner of Bar Harbor Oyster Company.
There is a sort of other-worldliness to Mount Desert Island. If you wade into its cerulean waters, and gaze at where the mountains, sky, and ocean all converge, you feel as though you are part of some great cosmic secret. Mount Desert Island is a topographical wonderland—a spigot of earth hoisted up from the seas, and hewn down by glaciers so that a deep schism of saltwater runs up its belly. It’s the third-largest isle on the eastern seaboard of the United States, encompassing 108 square miles. Its dramatic beauty comes in large part from the seventeen mountains that rise from the sea, and the shores of its lakes.
It only makes sense that such a transcendent landscape would produce some equally ethereal natives.
Natalie and I tip-toed our way onto the shell hash beach of Hadley Point where the pristine waters of the Mount Desert Narrows sprawled out before us, and soaring pines stretched their limbs to the sun.
In the distance, a swath of golden hair flashed against the sapphire waters. I watched as the figure of a woman, silhouetted by the sun, pushed her skiff toward the beach. She gingerly extended her left arm outwards, calmly beckoning to a small child who was frolicking in the waves some distance away. Sensing our presence, the woman stood tall, and waved us over. At our approach, the child shyly ran behind her mother, but curiously peered out around her legs as we neared.
Joanna Fogg is a mythological human with a combination of qualities I did not think could coexist in one being. A Bar Harbor native and graduate from the College of the Atlantic, Joanna grew up on the water lobstering, sailing, and cooking as a chef on private yachts owned by a laundry list of impressive folks, including the likes of David Rockefeller. Joanna’s adventures at sea have taken her across the Atlantic, throughout the Mediterranean, and all over the West Indies.
“Traveling was wonderful, and it was such a great way to diversify my skill set,” Joanna explained, as she effortlessly heaved her three-year-old daughter, Ionna, onto the skiff with her right arm, and a cooler of oyster supplies with her left. “But I always wanted to find something that would lead me back home.”
In June of 2015, Joanna and her husband, Jesse, applied for a standard aquaculture lease to begin Bar Harbor Oyster Company. Jesse, a Bar Harbor native, grew up lobstering on Mount Desert Island with his father. After graduating from high school he attended Maine Maritime Academy where he received a bachelor's degree in Marine Engineering as well as a U.S. Coast Guard Chief Engineer License. Jesse’s work as a marine engineer has taken him across the world to work for fishing companies based out of Ireland, Scotland, Norway, and Mauritania. To further provide for the family, Jesse currently works half the year on the Bering Sea as the Chief Engineer on the F/V Northern Leader, a 184-foot longline vessel that targets Wild Alaskan Cod and other ground fish species.
“Jesse and I began this farm as a way for us to be on the water at home together,” Joanna explained and we cruised the lucent waters of the Mount Desert Narrows towards the Bar Harbor Oyster Company lease site. The more I chatted with Joanna, the more I realized she had to be the modern-day incarnation of the Greek Goddess, Amphitrite, heralded in mythology as the “Queen of the Sea,” and the only being that could soothe Poseidon’s tempestuousness. Poised, calm, and regal, she spoke to her daughter, her employees, and her clients with the same contagious tranquility that garnered utmost respect.
Joanna works full-time as a mother, wife, aquaculturist, event planner, and Mount Desert Island community member. During our morning together, she effortlessly steered the skiff with one hand, while hoisting up her playful daughter with her other arm, and simultaneously taking a call from a local restaurant regarding an event at which she was shucking later that afternoon. Not only is Joanna currently managing the farming and business aspects of Bar Harbor Oyster Company, but she also caters weekly raw bar events at local restaurants, and ensures that all orders are properly fulfilled. This is all in addition to being the mother of a vivacious three-year-old girl.
On our journey, Joanna’s daughter, Ionna, excitedly paced around the boat, proclaiming to Natalie and me how much she loved being out on the water with her mother. Ionna was born just as Bar Harbor Oyster Company was completing its first year as an oyster farm. Whenever Ionna’s day care was not in session –an ongoing situation due to COVID-19—she is on the water with Joanna, and eager to help any way she can.
“I really hope that she grows up to love oyster farming, so that one day Jesse and I can leave the oyster farm to her,” Joanna smiled as she watched her daughter frolic up and down the length of the skip as we approached the lease site.
The Bar Harbor Oyster Company grow-out lease site covers a sprawling 22.04 acres of waters in Thomas Bay, just East of Israel Point on the Mount Desert Narrows, a brackish creek with a salinity level close to 34 ppt and a tidal range surging between 12 and 15 feet. Separating Mount Desert Island from the mainland, Mount Desert Narrows is a thin strip of saltwater extending from Haynes Point in Trenton in the West, to Lamoine Beach in the East. The Narrows include several small islands and ledges, as well as a small saltmarsh.
Joanna’s skiff gracefully glided to a slow halt in view of the farm’s expansive lease site. There, rows upon rows of longlines stretched across the crystal waters. Joanna explained that each line was approximately 160-feet in length, and supported roughly 10 OysterGro cages. These cages, in turn, held 6 mesh oyster bags. Bar Harbor Oyster Company has over 1,000 OysterGro cages currently bobbing in the breeze of its 22 acre lease site. Joanna slowly steered us up and down the rows of cages, and waved to two of her crew members who were sorting oysters on a nearby pontoon.
“We grow our oysters in floating cages as the surface because the water is a bit warmer, and the phytoplankton more abundant,” Joanna explained as she dipped her fingers in the water to feel the water. “To help deepen the oyster’s cup, and to prevent biofouling, we periodically flip the cages to expose the oysters to the sun for roughly 24 hours.”
Joanna and Jesse Fogg’s oysters, the Bar Harbor Blondes, spend 3 years growing out on the Company’s lease site between April and December. Like the majority of farms in Maine, Joanna sinks her OysterGro cages at the beginning of winter, when the water temperatures cool, to prevent the oysters from freezing. While the cold water temperatures prevent the shell of the oyster from growing, the character, flavor and texture continue to develop.
On our way back to Hadley Point, Joanna stopped the skiff near a line of cages housing her market-ready oysters. Ionna proclaimed that she wanted to help her mother sort through the oysters that were ready for market. Joanna pulled a cage onto the edge of the skiff, and further pulled out a mesh bag. At her mother’s instruction, Ionna held open a market-ready bag into which Joanna poured the briny bivalves. Several oysters clinked their way to the skiff floor, and Joanna shucked them for a little mid-morning treat. Bar Harbor Oysters have a deliciously savory flavor profile, the cold water amping up the amino acids and offering a mouthful of freshness and brine.
As the August heat engulfed us, Natalie peered over at me with a smirk.
“Joanna, is it cool if I jump in the water with your oysters to cool off?” She inquired.
“I was just thinking the same thing,” Joanna smiled back. She turned her attention to Ionna who was already prancing on her tiptoes at the thought of a swim.
“Mom, I want to swim with the oysters too!” Ionna proclaimed excitedly. Joanna nodded her head with delight.
Natalie and Joanna gracefully dove in the endless blue, as I carefully lowered Ionna into the waters to meet her mother. A faint sea smoke curled along the wave crests as we splashed in the icy Atlantic waters. We snacked on oysters, and waved to boats making their way to an eternal horizon.
When we returned Hadley Point, I stood with Ionna on the beach as we watched Joanna tie-up the skiff, and kayak her way to shore. Our cheeks had grown ruddy with the sun, and there were traces of salt languishing up our arms and legs.
Ionna looked up Natalie and I with wide eyes, as blue as the sea, and giggled “do you know that my mom is a mermaid?”
“Honey,” Natalie spoke, peering at me, as I nodded in agreement, “I’ve never heard a truer statement in all my life.”
