Oyster Stories
Below is my collection of sea farmer stories from around the world. Learn about each farm’s origins, their challenges, and greatest successes on the water.
Dirigo Marine Resources
On a golden summer morning, oyster farmer Greg Foote of Dirigo Marine Resources, tends to his farm’s precious oysters growing in cages in the cerulean waters of Casco Bay. During the summer months, while the ocean waters are still calm, and before the sun climbs high into the sky, oyster farmers, like Greg, embark on daily morning commutes to their farms.
What’s In a Name? The Story of Community Shellfish Company and the Cora Cressy Oyster
Named after a five-masted schooner that served as a speakeasy during the Prohibition era, the Cora Cressy Oyster, farmed by oyster farmers Boe Marsh and Zak Alexander of Commuinty Shellfish, is grown in the waters of a grandfathered lobster pound in Bremen Maine on the Medomak River.
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.
Untamed Beauty: Harvesting Wild Oysters in Maine
In Maine, wild oysters grow in the cold, nutrient-rich waters of the Gulf of Maine estuaries au natural. Known as “wilds,” these bivalves flourish on the bottom of the seafloor, and their fluted edges are etched by the natural ebb and flow of the tides.
This One’s for the Ladies: A Celebration of Women in Aquaculture
A reflection of the status of women in the seafood industry on International Women's Day: 2022