Bailey Point Oyster Company - St. George River

Our Aquafarm

We grow oysters mid-river on the St. George in Maine — in a historic and proven aquaculture site shaped by natural beauty and powerful tides. The farm sits six miles from the ocean in nine feet of water at low tide. The river has a ten-foot tidal range and currents that reach up to three knots at the peak.

This natural flow brings in ample food for the oysters and gently tumbles them, helping them grow deep-cupped and sturdy with minimal handling.

We raise our oysters both on long-lines and bottom-plant to maximize scale while minimizing river impact thanks to favorable marine mud along with a briny mix of fresh and ocean waters.

The river is cold (37–65 °F) and it has high salinity (28–34 ppt), which gives our oysters their bold, briny flavor with a crisp, clean finish.

How We Grow

1) Seed

We get our seed from approved hatcheries for our growing zone around the 4th of July.

We start growing them at 3mm when they look like a cup of quinoa.

The seed are put into spat bags.

And the spat bags go into floating bags on the long-line.

By the end of July the seed are 4 to 6mm.

In the middle of August they have doubled and tripled in size!
2) Sorting, Grading and Harvesting

Oysters like to grow together with other oysters of the same size. We sort oysters and grade them for sizes starting around the 4th of July and continue through Halloween. We harvest oysters all year round.

We first sort for 2" oysters because they can be bottom-planted without fear of the green crab.

A 2.5" oyster is the minimum size permitted for sale as food in Maine.

The Petites are 2.5"–3", Cocktails are 3"–4", Selects are 4"–5", and Jumbos are 5"+.

We can get 1000 oysters out of every 4 to 6 floating bags.
3) Bottom Planting

One way we grow oysters is on the long-lines, where they feed and grow fastest on the surface of the water. Another way we grow oysters is to disperse them on the bottom of the river after they are 2" in size. The oysters stay on the bottom for months or even years until they are harvested by a diver.

Divers gear-up to plant and harvest oysters from the bottom.

The oysters are dispersed in a marked area so the divers can easily locate them later when it's time to harvest.

Oysters will feed when the water is warmer than 47°F; below that they seal their shells and hibernate until Spring.
4) Overwintering

In November, when the water drops below 50 degrees Fahrenheit and the days get shorter, we prepare the oysters for the Winter.

Seed and market size oysters are put in bags and placed in cages that are dropped to the river bottom.

Divers check that the cage landed upright and that we are ready for Winter.