Sustainability

Sustainability in today’s market is key to ensuring a harvest of abundant quality oysters for years to come. All Delaware Bay oysters harvested by us have been caught from a certified sustainable fishery.

How is an Oyster Farmed?

To keep the Delaware Bay oyster fishery sustainable there are programs put into place by state legislation. One of these programs is called Shell-planting. Shell-planting is considered a farming technique where pieces of shell are spread on the bottom of company and state controlled ground in the Delaware Bay. This is done in late June and early July when the water temperatures are perfect for the oyster spawning (reproduction) to occur.

When oysters spawn, males and females release sperm and eggs into the water column. Within the water column the eggs and sperm come together to fertilize into free swimming larvae. One set of oyster parents can produce up to 100 million free swimming larvae in one spawning season. These free swimming larvae will travel through the water column and find a home on a deposited shell.

Within 10-14 days the larvae will settle to the bottom and attach to the hard surface of shells that were planted. By late fall oysters will look like “baby” oysters (roughly between 10-20 mm in size). These “baby” oysters will grow for approximately 3 years when they are considered adults and ready for harvest.

Our oyster beds are continuously monitored and maintained to ensure successful growth and sustainability of this resource.