| order | name | term | description | pic | thumb |
| 01 | Please select from the menu on the right. | Pacific-Oysters-plate.jpg | Pacific-Oysters-plate.jpg | ||
| 02 | Bald Point Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Bald Point oysters are grown about half way up the west side of Washington’s Hood Canal, a little north of the mouth of the Hama Hama River. They are raised from hatchery-produced seed and are grown intertidally on the beach. They mature with the hard shell associated with that growing technique. The meats are relatively plump; their flavor starts mildly salty, then becomes somewhat sweet, and finishes with a fruity aftertaste. | Bald-Pt.jpg | Bald-Pt-a.jpg |
| 03 | Barron Point Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Barron Point’s are an intertidally grown oyster from Little Skookum Inlet, which is in southern Puget Sound, Washington. They are introduced to the beach at Barron Point in large mesh growout bags that are placed on the bottom. After about a month, they are transferred out of the bags and onto the beach, and they finish their growout as beach cultured oysters. They are produced by a small, family run operation that is doing the work required to keep the oyster densities low both while they are in the growout bags and while they are on the beach. This in turn produces very nicely shaped oysters; round, deep cupped, and with well formed hinges. The water in southern Puget Sound is very high in nutrients and not too intensely salty. As a result, the oysters generally taste mildly salty, and the meats tend to have a lot of fat (glycogen) on them, making them plump and sweet. They often have so much sweet to them that it masks the fruity aftertaste common to the pacific oyster. | Barron-Point-oysters.jpg | Barron-Point-oysters-b.jpg |
| 04 | Calm Cove Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Calm Cove is located about half way up the west side of Washington’s Hood Canal, not far from the mouth of the Hama Hama River. They are grown intertidally on the beach and have the hard shell associated with that growing technique. The meats are relatively plump; their flavor starts mildly salty, then becomes somewhat sweet, and finishes with a fruity aftertaste. | Calm-Cove.jpg | Calm-Cove-a.jpg |
| 05 | Chef Creek Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Chef Creek flows into Deep Bay in the Baynes Sound region of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The site is about five miles south of Fanny Bay on the east side of the island and receives generous amounts of nutrient rich ocean water via the Strait of Georgia. The oysters are raised from hatchery produced seed in a flupsy (floating, up-welling system) that accelerates growth and helps to create a deep, uniform cup. They are then transferred to the beach where they grow to maturity. The final job of cleaning, grading, and sorting is excellently done. The meats themselves are plump and attractive, with a flavor that starts salty and sweet, then finishes with a melon-like aftertaste. | Chef-Creek.jpg | Chef-Creek-a.jpg |
| 06 | Cortes Island Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Cortes Island oysters are cultivated at the northern end of the Strait of Georgia, one of British Columbia’s most northerly oyster growing locations. To get to major distribution points they must travel by ferry to Vancouver Island, down the island by truck, then by ferry again to the mainland. They start out as hatchery produced seed in trays suspended from the surface, but are later transferred directly onto the beach for conditioning. They finish their grow out there in order to develop a deeper cup and thicker shell, aided by the nutrient rich Pacific Ocean waters flowing over them. They are salty, sweet, and have a fruity aftertaste. | Cortes.jpg | Cortes-a.jpg |
| 07 | Dabob Bay Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Dabob Bays are beach-grown oysters from Dabob Bay, Washington, the mouth of which opens onto the northern part of Hood Canal. Dabob Bay is a very clean body of water, where the natural conditions are similar to the area of Japan where these oysters originated. Dabobs are slow growing oysters, taking roughly two years to reach market size. They also have thick shells that endear the oyster to shuckers for their ease of opening. Their texture is somewhat crunchy, while their flavor starts out mildly salty, progressing to sweet, and finishing with a melon-like aftertaste. | Dabob.jpg | Dabob-a.jpg |
| 08 | Denman Island Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Denman Island is located near Fanny Bay on the east coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The oysters grown there start out as hatchery produced seed in trays suspended from the surface, but they get transferred directly onto the beach for their final grow out. There they develop their cup and thick shells, reaching market size in twelve to eighteen months. Water from the Pacific flows through the Strait of Georgia over the site, producing oysters that tend to be quite salty. Their flavor is sweet with an aftertaste similar to that of cucumber. | Denman.jpg | Denman-a.jpg |
| 09 | Discovery Bay Flat Oyster | Ostrea edulis | “Disco” Flats are grown near the head of Discovery Bay, Washington in trays suspended from buoys in sixty feet of water. While these oysters are raised from US hatchery produced seed they are the indigenous species of Europe, known to many as the "Belon", but the name "Belon" really applies only to the oysters raised in Brittany, France. The Disco Flat is similar to the native Olympia oyster in flavor and texture, but much stronger. It is very firm, salty with a semi-sweet meat, and finishes with a distinctive metallic finish. | Discovery-Bay-Flat.jpg | Discovery-Bay-Flat-a.jpg |
| 10 | Eagle Rock Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Eagle Rock’s are an intertidally grown oyster from Totten Inlet, which is in southern Puget Sound, Washington. They are introduced to the beach at a site distinguished by the imposing Eagle Rock, a locally known perch for the impressive predator of the same name. They are started in large mesh grow out bags that are placed on the bottom. After about eight months they are transferred out of the bags and onto the beach. They finish their grow out as beach cultured oysters. They are produced by a small, family run operation that is doing the difficult and time-consuming work required to keep the oyster densities low. This produces very nicely shaped oysters; round, deep cupped, and with well formed hinges. The water in southern Puget Sound is very high in nutrients and not too intensely salty. As a result, the oyster generally tastes mildly salty, and the meats tend to have a lot of fat (glycogen) on them, making them plump and sweet. They often have so much sweet to them that it masks the fruity aftertaste common to the pacific oyster. | Eagle-Rock.jpg | Eagle-Rock-a.jpg |
| 11 | Effingham Inlet Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Effingham Inlet oysters are grown in a remote deepwater site on the west coast of Vancouver Island, inland from Barkley Sound. They are an intensively cultured product of uniform size with nice deep cups. The process starts on site with hatchery raised seed in a flupsy, or floating upwelling system. This boosts the oyster seeds’ growth rate by increasing water flow and food. When the oysters get a little bigger, they are transferred into stackable plastic trays, which are then suspended from rafts. They are conditioned from this time on by monthly tumbling in a large stainless steel drum to break off new growth. Lasting about one year, this phase produces the deeper cups, harder shells, and consistent size that we prefer. The waters of Effingham Inlet are salty and nutrient rich, yielding oysters that are salty, plump and sweet, finishing with a mild watermelon aftertaste. | Effingham.jpg | Effingham-a.jpg |
| 12 | Eld Inlet Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Eld Inlet is located in southern Puget Sound, Washington. Southern Puget Sound is noted for its high nutrient levels, and the oysters that grow there reflect that. Their meats tend to be plump with glycogen, and consequently very sweet. Eld Inlet oysters have a crisp briny flavor that is followed by a watermelon rind like aftertaste. They begin their life on the beach in bags, but before they finish about half their growth they get transferred directly onto the beach. This is a method that provides a very presentable fluted shell with a deep cup. They grow quickly this way as well, reaching market size in a little over a year. | Eld-Inlet.jpg | Eld-Inlet-a.jpg |
| 13 | Fanny Bay Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Fanny Bay oysters are cultured on the beaches of Baynes Sound near the town of Fanny Bay, British Columbia, which is located about half way up the east side of Vancouver Island. They start out as hatchery produced seed in trays suspended from the surface to hasten their initial growth, but are transferred directly onto the beach once they have put on a little weight. There they develop their nice cup and thick shells, reaching market size in twelve to eighteen months. Water from the Pacific Ocean flows directly through the Strait of Juan de Fuca then up the Strait of Georgia over the site, producing oysters that tend to be quite salty. Their flavor is sweet with an aftertaste similar to that of cucumber. | Fanny-Bay.jpg | Fanny-Bay-a.jpg |
| 14 | Hama Hama Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Hama Hama’s are thick shelled, beach-grown oysters raised at the mouth of the Hama Hama River in Hood Canal, Washington. The river has its origins high in the Olympic Mountains and it flows into the middle portion of the western shore of Hood Canal. They are grown from a mixture of hatchery raised and naturally collected spat that is seeded on the farm’s beds and take about two years to reach market size. Because of this slow growth their flavor is delicate with a mild, fruity aftertaste. They are usually only mildly salty. | Hama-Hama.jpg | Hama-Hama-a.jpg |
| 15 | Hammersley Inlet Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Hammersley Inlet is located in southern Puget Sound just north of Totten Inlet. It is a nutrient rich area that produces an oyster that grows very quickly and that tends to have plump, full, and sweet meat. This oyster is initially grown in a bag on the beach, but is later transferred out of the bag and directly onto the beach for shell hardening. Its flavor begins with a mild saltiness, followed by what’s generally a full sweetness, and finishing with the fruity aftertaste common to pacific oysters. | Hammersley.jpg | Hammersley-a.jpg |
| 16 | Imperial Eagle Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Imperial Eagle oysters are from the west side of Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Imperial Eagle Channel is located about eighty miles northwest of the southern tip of the island. The oysters start out as hatchery produced seed in trays suspended from the surface, but are later transferred directly onto the beach for conditioning. They are grown in ideal conditions, far from any industrial or population centers. The channel is open to the cold north Pacific waters, rich in nutrients from the strong coastal upwelling of the region. The oysters are quite salty, thanks to the direct ocean water exchange, and they tend to be very plump, thanks to the abundance of nutrients. Their flavor is sweet and they finish with a watermelon rind-like aftertaste. | Imperial-Eagle.jpg | Imperial-Eagle-a.jpg |
| 17 | Jorstad Creek Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Jorstad Creek oysters are from Hood Canal, Washington and are raised from hatchery-produced seed. They are initially grown in bags on the beach, and then later are transferred out of the bags to harden their shell and improve their shape. Jorstad Creek flows into Hood Canal about halfway up the canal on the west side, just a couple miles south of the Hama Hama River. They tend to be one of the least salty oysters on the canal as the waters of Jorstad Creek flow directly over the tide flats and the oysters take in a lot more fresh water. The meat is fairly plump, they are only mildly salty, and the texture leans toward the crunchy side. Their flavor starts out with a subtle sweetness and finishes fruity. | Jorstad.jpg | Jorstad-a.jpg |
| 18 | Kumamoto Oyster | Crassostrea sikamea | This oyster is originally from the Kumamoto area of Kyushu, Japan. It is slow growing and small in size with a very deep cup. Raised in California, Oregon and Washington for many years, they were not marketed on a large scale until the mid 1980's. The Kumamoto is rich in flavor, almost buttery, and slightly salty. The finish is sweet, mildly fruity with a light metallic flavor. Our Humboldt Bay, California Kumamoto’s are grown in the intertidal zone on long lines, suspended about one foot above the bottom. | Kumamoto.jpg | Kumamoto-a.jpg |
| 19 | Kusshi Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | The Kusshi is a suspended tray grown pacific oyster that is repeatedly tumbled during the course of its growout. It is raised in Deep Bay, which is on the east side of Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The frequent tumbling is labor intensive and time consuming, but produces an incredibly round and uniform oyster with a smooth, hard shell. It flavor tends to start salty, then turns quite sweet thanks to the plump full meat, and finishes with a mildly fruity aftertaste. | Kusshi.jpg | Kusshi-a.jpg |
| 20 | Malaspina Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Malaspinas are grown about 150 miles north of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia in an isolated part of Canada's west coast. The only human population to speak of is that of the oyster farmers themselves. The oysters start out as hatchery produced seed in trays suspended from the surface, but are later transferred directly onto the beach for conditioning. The water tends to be quite salty here, due to the direct flow of ocean water through the Strait of Georgia, and high in nutrients as well. As a result, their flavor is quiet sweet and they finish with the cucumbery aftertaste common to pacific oysters. | Malaspina.jpg | Malaspina-a.jpg |
| 21 | Netarts Bay Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Netarts Bay is a small, remote bay within the larger Tillamook Bay in Oregon. It is located about sixty miles south of the Columbia River. The oysters have the appearance of a rack and bag cultured oyster although they are in fact intertidally bottom cultured. The pretty brown, cream, and purple colors of their shell are generally not found on oysters grown this way. They do, however, have the characteristically thick shell of a beach-grown oyster. The meats have a very crunchy texture and tend to fill the shell nicely. They are only mildly salty, quite sweet, with a pronounced cucumbery finish. | Netarts.jpg | Netarts-a.jpg |
| 22 | Nisqually River Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Farmed raised Nisqually River oysters are intertidally beach grown from the southern Puget Sound, Washington region known as the Nisqually Flats. The location is near the mouth of the Nisqually River, which has its origin on Mount Rainier about 50 miles away. While they are totally beach grown and never spend any time in a bag, they still exhibit an attractive fluted shell due to their rapid growth that is fueled by the abundant amount of food in the water there. They are well shaped oysters, round with deep cups. Growth is relatively rapid and they reach market size, and get hand picked, at about 18 months. The abundant food they have at their disposal produces an oyster that tastes mildly salty, with meats that tend to have a lot of fat, or glycogen, making them plump and sweet. The sweet can be so pronounced that it can partially mask some of the cucumber/melon aftertaste common to all pacific oysters. | Nisqually.jpg | Nisqually-a.jpg |
| 23 | Nootka Sound Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Nootka Sound is located a little over half way up the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. It is an extremely remote, rugged and windswept location. The oysters raised there are beach grown and thick-shelled, and must travel by truck over what is little more than a logging road through a mountain range just to get to the ferry that takes them to the mainland. They are grown in ideal conditions. Nootka Sound is open to the cold north Pacific waters, rich in nutrients from the strong coastal upwelling of the region. The oyster’s meat is salty, plump and rich. They are quite sweet with a cucumber like aftertaste. | Nootka.jpg | Nootka-a.jpg |
| 24 | Olympia Oyster | Ostrea lurida | Olympia oysters are grown primarily in southern Puget Sound, Washington, although a couple of farms are growing them in bays along the northern California coast. These are the native oysters of the West Coast. Once very abundant, their stocks have declined drastically due to over-harvesting and pollution. They are very slow growing. It takes them about five years to reach maturity, and even then they rarely get bigger than a fifty-cent piece. Olympia oysters are perfect for the first time oyster eater. They are small and sweet, with a slightly metallic flavor and firm texture. | olympia.jpg | olympia-a.jpg |
| 25 | Otter Cove Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Otter Coves are beach grown oysters from Dabob Bay that are transferred to Discovery Bay for conditioning. Dabob Bay is located in the northern portion of Hood Canal, Washington while Discovery Bay is located in the Strait of Juan de Fuca. The oysters spend time in Discovery Bay acquiring the characteristics of that area before being harvested, and typically leave saltier and sweeter than when they arrived. They are quite salty, as Discovery Bay has good ocean water exchange, and their texture is crunchy. They finish sweet and cucumbery. | Otter-Cove.jpg | Otter-Cove-a.jpg |
| 26 | Pickering Passage Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Pickering Passage is the body of water in southern Puget Sound, Washington that flows past the mouths of Hammersley, Totten, and Eld Inlets. It is a nutrient rich area that produces oysters that grow very quickly and that tend to have plump, full meats. They are cultured in the popular bag to beach method, reaching market size in about one year. Their flavor begins with a mild saltiness, followed by what’s generally a full sweetness, and finishing with the fruity aftertaste common to pacific oysters. | Pickering.jpg | Pickering-a.jpg |
| 27 | Quilcene Bay Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | The Quilcene is a Japanese oyster that has been grown in Washington for over eighty years. Quilcene Bay is a small bay that has its mouth on the western shore of the larger Dabob Bay. Dabob Bay is located towards the northern end of Hood Canal. Quilcenes are beach grown and thick shelled. This area produces an oyster that is delicate in texture, slightly salty and sweet with a cucumbery aftertaste. This oyster is similar to the French "Fine de Claire." |
Quilcene.jpg | Quilcene-a.jpg |
| 28 | Shigoku Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | The Shigoku oyster is a suspended culture pacific oyster that is repeatedly tumbled during the course of its grow-out. It is raised in two different Washington locations; coastal Willapa Bay and northern Puget Sound’s Samish Bay. The tumbling process takes place while the oyster is in the water by means of a round floating basket that is constantly turned end over end by wave and tidal action. The result, which takes almost two years, is an oyster that has a smooth, hard shell and a very round shape. It tends to be salty, mildly sweet, with a long fruity finish. | nophoto.gif | nophoto-sm.gif |
| 29 | Sisters Point Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | These oysters are from the southern end of Hood Canal, Washington, harvested off of Sisters Point. This is located right at "The Great Bend" where the canal turns from a roughly north/south orientation into one that is roughly east/west. They are beach grown, thick-shelled oysters from a small family run operation that takes great pride in the quality of their work. The family has been working at it for almost two decades and their oysters have developed a very good reputation. Their flavor is mild with a nice cucumbery finish and their texture is delicate. | Sisters-Pt.jpg | Sisters-Pt-a.jpg |
| 30 | Skookum Inlet Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | These oysters are raised in Little Skookum Inlet, Washington, which is located in southern Puget Sound near Shelton. Their culture starts in large mesh bags on the beach, then they are transferred to the beach for about a year to harden their shells and strengthen their abductor mussels. Deep-cupped and plump, Skookums have an attractive appearance due to the high mineral content of the water in which they are grown. Their flavor is very sweet with a mild fruity finish. | Skookum.jpg | Skookum-a.jpg |
| 31 | Snow Creek Oyster | Crassostrea gigas | Snow Creeks are grown in trays suspended from buoys in sixty feet of water near the head of Discovery Bay, Washington. The bay is fed by Snow Creek, which has its origin in the Olympic National Forest. These oysters enjoy extremely cold, clean, nutrient-rich water. As tray cultured oysters, they can spend 100% of their life feeding, which accounts for their sweet, plump meat. They are salty, mildly sweet, with a melon-like finish. | Snow-Creek.jpg | Snow-Creek-a.jpg |
| 32 | Virginica Oyster | Crassostrea virginica | Virginica oysters are raised in two different Washington locations, southern Puget Sound’s Totten Inlet and and northern Puget Sound’s Samish Bay. They are unique in that they are the first eastern oysters to be grown commercially in Washington state since the early 1900’s, when a large quantity were grown in Willapa Bay for the oyster hungry San Francisco market. They were successfully grown and marketed from that location for many years until early in the 1930’s when the Willapa growers began to lose interest in the slow growing eastern oysters after the fast growing pacific oyster was introduced. They begin their lives in a state of the art oyster hatchery in the town of Quilcene and are then allowed to mature on the beaches of Totten Inlet and Samish Bay. Virginicas take three to five years to reach three and one half inches, which is the size at which the cup has fully developed. They have an attractive and clean pear shape, and the shells are quite smooth, lacking the sharp flutes common to pacific oysters. Their flavor begins fairly saltly, then goes very sweet for an eastern species, and ends with a mild mineral like finish. | Virginica.jpg | Virginica-b.jpg |