How to Start an Oyster Farm

Historically, oyster lovers everywhere ate from the wild. Aficionados had ready access to teeming beds of shellfish to forage. Now, almost all oysters eaten by consumers have been farm-raised. The reality is bleak: More than 85% of the world’s wild oyster reefs have been lost, the reasons for this threefold: higher water temperatures due to climate change causing increased ocean acidity; a pair of diseases, dermo and MSX, negatively affecting the breathing capabilities of oysters; and overfishing. By 1990, many wild populations had disappeared.

A proliferation of farms in U.S. coastal areas (Massachusetts presently has 371) raise Crassostrea virginica. This includes our own farm, the Crooked River Shellfish Farm, located in Wareham, Massachusetts. Beginning in 2017, we sought approval from local, state, and federal agencies. Then, we bought gear, a boat, and nearly 200,000 tiny oysters. We became part of the aquaculture movement, the world’s fastest-growing food-production method.

The process of starting a business farming oysters begins with a tidal wave of red tape. Coastal sites need approval, and the maze you must find your way through is daunting. Our first step involved meeting with the harbormaster to discuss farming opportunities along our 50 miles of shoreline. Five such operations already existed, but there was still acreage available. We developed a five-year plan and proposed it to the board of selectmen. Once their approval was secured, the Division of Marine Fisheries weighed in, including a scuba survey of the sea bottom to determine if eel grass (beneficial to a variety of species) was prevalent and whether existing shellfish there should be left for recreational diggers. I also filed paperwork with the local conservation commission, with its eye on endangered-species impacts. I notified abutters and two Native American tribes. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers determined whether the proposed site would interfere with navigational traffic. This nightmare of forms, fees, and frustration took one year. At the end, I leased 6.8 acres of ocean at the annual rate of $25 per acre.

How to Farm Oysters: Popular Methods

Generally, oyster farmers use one of four methods to raise oysters, and the neophyte must decide on the best option. I was fortunate enough to enter into my endeavor with a business partner who had experience within the oyster industry. I relied on him to make such decisions.

Bottom Culture

Farmers can place oysters on the substrate in free-range fashion, known as “bottom culture.”

“Rack-and-Bag”

Oysters are retained in bags fastened to metal racks a distance above the seafloor. With these systems, the oysters are near the shoreline, fully submerged at high tide,and fully exposed at low tide.

Suspended Culture

Oysters hang below the surface 24/7.

Longline Culture

Oysters are kept floating on the surface in mesh bags. When Crooked River was established, we used a longline culture system of floating bags.

Choosing an Oyster-Farming Method

Choosing a method involves weighing pros and cons. Bottom-cultured oysters are vulnerable to predators in a way floating oysters aren’t. Crabs, for example, can make advances on the free meal. And if the seafloor is muddy, oysters can get lost and smothered in a thick slop. But minerals in the substrate produce robust and hearty shells when oysters are in contact with the bottom. By contrast, the shells of oysters raised in floats can be brittle and thin.

Then, there’s the matter of cost. Bottom-cultured oysters preclude the necessity of purchasing expensive gear. And you’ll have other considerations. Do your town regulations allow for floating gear? Does your site have sufficient depth to consider a suspended system? (Oysters that are in water 24/7 grow fast.)

Then, consider tumbling oysters. Oysters shaken by waves or human hands will grow deep cups. Restaurants prefer deep-cupped oysters, as these cups retain the oyster and liquid within the shell, thus preserving taste and enhancing their briny presentation. Oysters in floating bags receive natural tumbling in the form of waves. Therefore, the farmer doesn’t need to shake them.

Gear for How to Start an Oyster Farm

So, you have a siten and you’ve decided on a growth method. Now, amass your gear. When Crooked River got going, our startup costs were approximately $40,000 (my partner and I split everything 50-50). We bought a used 16-foot Carolina Skiff. This boat had a flat bottom conducive to standing, working, and hauling oysters and gear. We bought hundreds of mesh bags and cylindrical floats, assembling them by hand on a homemade jig with hog rings. At our site, we set up floating rope lines held in place at each end with helical anchors. These lines gave us parking spaces for the floating bags. By April, we’d placed our first order for hatchery-produced oyster spat. The size of your pinky fingernail, they’ll be iced and transported from a state-approved hatchery to your farm and dispersed into bags by volume. Saleable oysters must achieve a 2-1/2-inch length, and the faster you reach this goal, the sooner you’ll profit. Spawning oysters in a hatchery is part science, part alchemy. The induced spawning and manipulation of genetics in these labs can produce oysters that are more interested in eating than in reproduction, and that are more resistant to disease. Promotion of the urge to eat results in faster growth.

Now, you’re in business, and the real work begins. At first, each small mesh bag will hold perhaps 1,000 oysters. As they grow, nourishing themselves on plankton, they’ll need to be relayed into larger mesh bags with fewer oysters in each bag. Bigger oysters will out-eat little oysters, so you’ll have to cull and disperse accordingly. Haul in a bag, empty it on a table, cull, scrape the oysters if Crepidula (slipper shells) have adhered, clean the biofoul from the mesh, and then redeploy as efficiently as you can. This is a constant process, and as long as you have oysters, it’ll never end. Frugal farmers do all of this manually. The big dogs, established farmers with deep pockets, invest in the mechanical ability to cull.

Flip the floating bags for effective growing. Bag bottoms can become so biofouled that they restrict water flow, causing the oyster’s menu options to wane. So, we walk along our rows and turn bags over, exposing sea muck to the sun so anything living will dry out and die. One week later, we’ll do it all again. Then again, and again, and again.

When an oyster eats, inhaling seawater, it also takes in damaging nitrogen that would result in the loss of critical habitat for other species. Thus, when thousands of these bivalves exist in a specific area, those bodies of water stay pristine. One oyster can filter 50 gallons of seawater each day.

Oyster-Farming Timeline

Though we understood it would take 1-1/2 to 2 years before our 5/8-inch oysters would reach saleable size, we sold our first few hundred just nine months later. We attributed this pleasant surprise to geography (our location had a good southwestern fetch), diligent maintenance, and dumb luck. Oysters sell in bags of 50 or 100 hand-counts, tagged in accordance with food-safety regulations. Oyster farmers, unless they have licenses beyond a standard commercial license, sell to wholesalers. Selling directly to retailers or any private party is illegal. And during certain months, oysters must be iced within established timelines to minimize the chances of the humans who eat them contracting vibriosis, an infection with ugly symptoms that in rare cases can be fatal.

Many farmers submerge their crops for winter and go home. In late November, we remove the floats, fill each bag three-fourths full with oysters, strap the bags to sections of aluminum ladders we retrieved from the town dump, and then haul them offshore in water at least 3 feet deep. This minimum depth prevents heavy ice from crushing our oysters. Aluminum ladders allow water flow underneath the submerged oysters. The technique is primitive, but it works. While modern approaches — such as OysterGro systems — represent much less annual labor (not to mention unnecessary dumpster-diving), such a system requires significantly more money.

Oysters aren’t voracious eaters in winter. They go dormant and “clam up” until water temperatures rise in spring. Some hearty farmers work 12 months each year, risking storm and ice damage to their oysters and hypothermic damage to themselves. Many year-rounders have land access to their sites. Our farm is accessed only by boat, and the harbor can ice up severely. Plus, the oysters’ growth rate slows. So, we sink them and skedaddle, done in mid-December, and we hibernate for the next three months.

We established our business as an LLC, affording us some financial protection for the long haul. LLCs keep the business value separate from personal assets, so renewing our LLC became an annual exercise of importance. Winter was also a good time to repair damaged gear.

We bought more oysters and gear in our second year, putting in play a population that would replace our initial crop once sold. The growth rates remained impressive, and we sold 1,000 to 3,000 per week. We repeated this pattern in our third year, and by midpoint that season, we fully recovered all startup costs and operated in the black. We now run the farm on “house money,” no longer reaching into our own wallets to pay the bills.

So if oceanic acreage is available and you feel ambitious, don’t worry too much about the downsides. We’ve had to get towed because our boat broke down. We’ve spilled hundreds of oysters on the bottom through carelessness and equipment failure. We’ve had to shoo people from our farm. One day, I fell overboard. And no matter how much money you spend on waders, they’ll leak.

Rather, focus on the upsides. I wear a bathing suit to work on balmy days. I have no boss; I’m driven by weather and tides rather than hierarchy. You’ll encounter problems, but in the scheme of things, how difficult is it to deter ospreys from building nests on your gear? Farm-raising oysters keeps you in intimate touch with the natural world. It’s hard work, but when done in earnest, it’s its own reward.

Annual Operating Budget for Crooked River Shellfish Farm

• Boat slip rental: $1,400
• Boat insurance: $500
• Acreage lease: $175
• LLC renewal: $500
• Supplies and equipment: $1,000
• Oyster seed: $10,000
• Fuel: $600
• Tax preparation: $700
• Miscellaneous fees and licenses: $300
• Emergency fund: $2,000
• Total: $17,175

The Scoop on Oysters

• Oysters are considered a keystone species, with a disproportionately large effect on their environment relative to their abundance. For example, parrotfish on the Great Barrier Reef scrape and clean the coral. Oysters remove damaging nitrogen from the water, which benefits other species.
• Oysters can be eaten baked, grilled, fried, stewed, or raw. The most popular way is raw, shucked, and then served on the half-shell. Successfuly shucking oysters takes practice. An oyster takes 20 pounds of precise pressure at its hinge to open.
• Oysters are high in protein, iron, calcium, and omega-3 fatty acids. They also provide a source of zinc.
• Oysters have merroir, tasting something of their point of origin.
• Oysters are a culinary paradox. Aficionados consider them “the liqueur of the sea” while oyster haters refer to their phlegmatic appearance and texture as “sea snot.”
• Oysters’ natural mortality rate represents a small percentage loss each year for oyster farmers.
• Natural predators include oyster drills, crabs, sea stars, and snails.
• Oysters have been farmed in the U.S. since at least the 1700s. Historically, some Native American tribes planted and cultivated shellfish.
• Vibrio is a bacterium found in brackish waters that can concentrate in oyster tissue and infect humans who eat raw or undercooked oysters.
• Farmed oysters are the third-highest-value seafood product in Massachusetts, behind lobster and sea scallops.

After a 35-year career in education, David Paling retired to become a full-time oyster farmer. He’s a freelance writer, and his nonfiction has appeared in more than 100 regional and national publications.