featured farms
We want to highlight the farms whose oysters we served at The Hatchery food truck in 2023! We hope that you'll have a chance to order some from the farm directly for your next gathering or holiday celebration. Please know that there are plenty of other excellent farms that are not mentioned in this list below. We sourced farms using 2 criteria in our inaugural year: the first was choosing companies that were our customers (farms that purchase seed or larvae from Oyster Seed Holdings). The second was proximity to our location.
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We look forward to continue advocating for the oyster industry and connecting our community to the culture and sustainability of farm-raised shellfish!
Gloucester, VA
Cappahosic Oysters are raised in mid-high salinity waters and noted for presentation of a beautiful oyster shell.
Cappahosic Oyster Company is based nearby in Gloucester and owned by Mark Vann and Marcia Berman. The owners derived their business name after the Cappahosic House - public housing on the northern part of the York River for travelers coming by ferry in the 18th century.
Their oysters are raised as triploids from larvae and seed to adulthood in mid-salinity waters averaging 18ppt. They start their farming in upwellers until the seed get transferred to bags and set overboard in the river. Within weeks they are transferred from bags to ½ inch mesh cages, then sorted regularly until they are ready to sell to market to eateries like ours.
We have served their “minnie pearls” and “victory point” oysters at the truck.
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Contact them on their website.
Wake, VA
Chesapeake Bay's Oysters are mildly salty and raised in lower salinity waters making them the perfect pairing oyster.
Chesapeake Bay Oyster Company is located just up the shore in Wake, VA.
We have served up their signature Parrot Island Oysters™ referring to the shadow of Parrot Island near the mouth of Virginia’s Rappahannock River, one of the Chesapeake Bay’s main tributaries. The oysters are described as having a mildly salty and slightly sweet taste, and they’re grown in a salinity ranging from 12-18 ppt.
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Order some Parrot Island oysters online on their website.
Cobbs Creek, VA
Chapel Creek Oysters noted for Umami or savoriness, with a buttery mineral rich taste with a crisp light finish and saltiness.
Chapel Creek Oyster Company is a Mathews-based company. Their harvest is grown in the sheltered habitat of the Piankatank River in sight of the Chesapeake Bay. Trey Sowers is not only an oyster farmer, but also a crabber and commercial waterman tour guide who takes visitors out on his Helen Elizabeth Deadrise boat.
Trey’s farm is eco friendly from beginning to end. The disease resistant seed are purchased from our hatchery, and grown with sustainable farming practices, then shells are collected from participating restaurants and donated to Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Oyster Shell program.
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Contact Trey on his website to order!
shuckum.com
Pungoteague, VA
Juicy Shuckers can be described to have flavor of fresh corn, limestone and sweet-salty finish in their 15-20 ppt salinity environment.
This oyster farm is based out of Pungoteague on the Eastern Shore on the Nandua Bay. Owners, Devin and Reba, are passionate about ensuring the Bay remains a bountiful and clean resource for future generations and they work hard to provide sustainable oysters worldwide. Their Eastern Shore heritage goes back 6 generations!
Since 2010, they’ve been committed to sustainability and installed extensive solar paneling that has powered their operations for over 10 years. They're especially proud of their 100% carbon neutral production plan and completely offsetting their carbon footprint!
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Contact Full Measure about wholesale.
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Heathsville, VA
The Blackberry oyster has a salted-butter flavor and a slight, mineral finish.
This family business has been harvesting sustainable seafood from the same watershed since the 1930s. The Cockrell family name has been tied to the region since the 16th century and been working the Bay's bounty for generations. Their heritage is woven into the waters of Cockrell Creek which flows into the Great Wicomico River. The farm specializes in the Eastern oyster, hand-raising their oysters with names like Blackberry or Peachtree using sustainable methods. The Hatchery served their Blackberry variety this season.
Visit their website for ordering & delivery.
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Gwynn's Island, VA
Haven Golds are described as fat as butter, plump, and tender with rounded, smooth shells. Grown in 15-18ppt salinity.
3 Hands Oyster Company was born out of the late Kevin Wade’s vision: “to strengthen our community by raising high quality, high volume American-made oysters, grown by local people in our local waters.” The tenet of the company is that it takes 3 hands to raise a good oyster - the hands-on watermen way from growing seed to packing orders. The farm is located in the Milford Haven between Gwynn’s Island and Chesapeake Bay waters.
Their signature oyster, the Haven Golds, are raised with price, accessibility, and exceptional taste in mind. The company is run by a team working passionately to make Wade’s dream an everyday reality.
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Find their oysters at J&W Seafood.
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Gloucester, VA
The Wavelengths are a rare balance of salty and sweetness, grown in waters at 22-25 ppt salinity.
This Gloucester based, female-owned, and family-operated business aims to operate all aspects of their business using the most sustainable methods possible. Their brand is artistically vibrant, and unique! The farm is located in the Mobjack Bay off of the Chesapeake Bay, where their oysters are exposed to harsh conditions of wind and natural wave action for constant tumble and flow. They sell Wavelengths and Bonfires known for clean and consistent shape and quality. They use adjustable longline systems as their grow out method, and their oysters are grown on the surface and never touch the bottom.
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Pick up at Yellow Umbrella and Tuckahoe Seafood in Richmond.
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Baltimore, MD
Skinny Dippers are approximately 3-4 inches of strong shell, and what the company describe as “a little salty, a lot sexy.”
True Chesapeake has been farming oysters in the beautiful brackish waters of St. Jerome Creek (a remote enclave of the Chesapeake) in southern Maryland since 2010. The company is responsible for more than 5 million oysters at any given time within the broad and shallow lagoon of the creek. The brackish waters, they claim, is the absolute ideal condition and habitat for their oysters.
While the company started as an oyster farm, they’ve expanded to a restaurant group. Their flagship restaurant opened in Baltimore’s Hamden Neighborhood in 2019, making them the first Maryland oyster farm to have a fine dining establishment.
Preorder for pickup or visit their restaurant.
Gwynn, VA
Salty Bottom Blue oysters are farmed mid-bay where the cleaner, cooler water has what it takes to grow fresh-tasting, high-salinity Chesapeake oysters.
This farm is a neighbor to The Hatchery on Gwynn’s Island located right up the shore by the Mathews Maritime Museum!
Salty Bottom Blue Oyster Company is owned by Scott Gray, a former professional polo player and engineer. Their oysters are farmed mid-bay near Stingray Point where the cleaner, cooler water has what it takes to grow fresh-tasting, high-salinity Chesapeake oysters.
Follow them on Instagram to attend their events and experience their oysters in person!
Irvington, VA
steamboatwharfoyster.com
Steamboat's Oysters are raised on the surface of the water in floating gear in big, open water tossed in the high energy area, creating uniformity, hinge strength, and super healthy meat and shells.
Steamboat raises some beautiful oysters just up the shore in White Stone, Va. This company is a family owned business “dedicated to growing a damn good oyster.” Thomas and Callie Robinson Hyde do this by using flip farm technologies to grow their oysters in the rough, constantly moving surface of the Rappahannock River.
Their oysters are raised on the surface of the water in floating gear in big, open water tossed in the high energy area, creating uniformity, hinge strength, and super healthy meat and shells.
Order directly from their website, or taste their product in person at Salt & Meadow at the Tides Inn.
Hudgins, VA
This aquaculture farm grows out their oysters from larval stage to market size and Sea Farms oysters are balanced sweet & salty.
In 1987, Ron Sopko started his family-style seafood wholesale business and planted his roots in Mathews County, VA. Sea Farms is a one-stop-shop shellfish facility, seafood processing plant, and on-site aquaculture farm located across the Milford Haven from The Hatchery.
The shellfish facility shucks and packages clams & oysters year-round, and the seafood processing plant processes & distributes fish like salmon, tuna, halibut, mahi and swordfish. Their aquaculture farm grows out their oysters from larval stage to market size.
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Contact them for wholesale.
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Topping, VA
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Rappahannocks offer up a sweet, buttery, full-bodied taste with a refreshingly clean, crisp finish.
What you probably didn’t know about the well-established oyster farm and expanding restaurant chain owned by Rappahannock Oyster Company, is that oystering in the waters of the Rappahannock has been a part of the Croxton family legacy since 1899. Fast forward a century to 2001, grandsons Ryan and Travis Croxton took a chance on what grew to be 200 family-owned acres of oyster leases. The company has expanded their profiles by strategically placing additional farms in different regions of Virginia to highlight each area’s unique flavor profile, or merroir. Each oyster therefore ranges from sweet to briny. Today they have 5 restaurants in Topping, Richmond, Washington DC, Charleston, and Los Angeles, CA
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Place an order online or visit a restaurant.
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White Stone, VA
White Stone Oysters have sweet mushroom & vegetal notes at the forefront and salty miso finish. Grown at 15-20ppt.
The Hatchery chose White Stone’s Wandering Wadders jarred oysters for the fried oyster menu items.
White Stone was founded by farmer Tom Perry and was born out of an obsession with the relationship between oysters and their natural environment. White Stone established itself on high standards, forging a mission "to find methods to grow the perfect Chesapeake Bay oyster." In fact, the company claims itself proudly in aquaculture as the first Virginia farm to grow oysters through their entire life cycle floating in the “unforgiving surf of the Chesapeake Bay,” introducing this new method to the state’s industry.
White Stone believes that keeping their oysters in constant motion, at the top of the food-rich water column, allows for a fit oyster with strong bill growth, a deep cup and polished shell.
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Order oysters on their website.
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Mathews, VA
Wolf Trap Oysters have a deep cup & hearty shell with a meaty oyster. Grown at 14-17 ppt salinity, they have mild saltiness and a clean crisp finish.
Another Mathews-based business, Warren Callis began his career as a commercial waterman in his 20s, following the footsteps of his father and grandfather. He has approximately 800 floating cages between his two farms, one located close to the Wolf Trap Lighthouse on the Chesapeake Bay, and the other located off the East River & Mobjack Bay. The company prides itself in allowing product for people to taste and experience the Bay where Warren grew up.
Using floating bag cages as his farming method, the Wolf Trap oysters tumble in the tides, allowing for a deep cup and heartier shell.
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Visit their website to order oysters.
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Gloucester, VA
Thanks to grant funding, and a collaboration with VIMS Commercial Shellfish Aquaculture Lab & Team (C-SALT) & Matheson Oyster, we were able to bring a larvae R&D experiment from RAS-to farm-to table!
Research never tasted so good...
Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) is a developing technology in the oyster aquaculture world where larvae is grown in a controlled environment with clean, recirculating water. OSH is evaluating the use of RAS technology for commercial production of larvae, and VIMS C-SALT team was in charge of the grow out this year.
This was a research collaboration and commercial oysters cannot be purchased from VIMS. ​
farmers
Next year we would like to partner with additional farms and look forward to highlighting each individual company and what makes them unique to the Virginia aquaculture landscape.
If you are a farmer who receives OSH seed - either directly from us, or from a nursery that purchases larvae or seed from us - and you want to be featured at THC next year, please don't hesitate to reach out.