First oyster farm on Boston’s South Shore now selling to chefs around the country

DUXBURY — An oyster farm south of Boston is shipping their harvest around the country.

Island Creek Oysters of Duxbury was the first oyster farm on the South Shore.

“We spawn oysters, so people get blown away by that process. We’re creating oysters here,” boat captain Dave May told WBZ-TV.

Growing oysters

“They’re grown on the bottom in the mud and so they have an earthier taste to them,” May said. “There’s really cold, nutrient-rich water out there and when the water here goes out, six hours later it comes back in, it’s new water. And so the oysters are never really sitting in the same water for more than a day.”

Different oyster varieties are grown at three separate farms in Duxbury, but the originals are the Island Creek. 

The popular “Row 34” oysters are grown six inches off the bay’s floor in the Aunt Dotty in a farm a little further away.

“They get the first taste of the cold Atlantic water as it rushes on the tide cycle,” May said. “They’re a little brinier, little sweeter.”

The oyster-growing process begins in the hatchery. First they start in a lab, then they’re fed algae before they’re moved to Duxbury Bay to finish growing in cages.

National oyster business

But the oysters aren’t just popular locally. They’re sold to businesses as far away as Napa, California.    

Island Creek’s CEO Chris Sherman said that they “distribute now to 700-800 chefs around the country.”

From Island Creek’s raw bar, restaurants, tours and shucking lessons, the farm has established a name for itself locals have trusted for almost 30 years. They run tours from May to September.

“Coastal communities is really at the heart of what we do,” Sherman told WBZ. “It’s our mission as an organization to grow thriving coastal communities.”