We owe it all to our coastlands.
We began oyster farming in 1983 with the goal of raising high quality, sustainable shellfish in a beautiful location. Today, we raise all five edible oyster varieties found in the Northern Hemisphere and Manila clams, make hand-finished mineral sea salt, and harvest seaweed from our oyster equipment. It’s all part of our commitment to harvest and grow foods that are good for people, our local communities, and our coastal environment—and that taste great, too.
Few foods carry the flavor of “place” quite like an oyster.
Hog Island oysters taste amazing because of the water in which they grow and the farming techniques that we use. We start our shellfish seed from scratch in our hatchery and nursery in Humboldt Bay, where we also grow Pacific and Kumamoto oysters. In Tomales Bay, our Marshall Farm is our company’s home, where we grow, harvest, shuck, and share five different oysters species.
Oceans are a pretty big deal to us.
We believe oceans hold the future of our food systems. That’s why we’re committed to responsibly growing and sourcing all the food we sell and serve. We’ve proudly developed sustainable aquaculture techniques to produce superior shellfish that taste delicious, along with a growing community of like-minded people. From the premium oysters we raise on our farms in Tomales and Humboldt Bays, to the seafood and culinary partners we carefully select, we’re working hard to protect our marine ecosystems and coastal communities so they can thrive for generations to come.
Sourcing sustainable seafood.
One of our guiding principles at Hog Island is that the “how” matters—the way in which we achieve our results is as important as the results themselves. In the case of our shellfish, we have direct stewardship over the entire supply chain—from hatchery to farm to table. But we also prepare and sell a wide range of other seafood, and we’ve had to develop our own standards for how we source them. For us, a sourcing guide isn’t a doctrine of absolutes; instead, we believe there are important questions we should always be asking, and conversations we should always be having about the seafood we buy and support.
Live to shuck. Shuck to live.
“Strong backs and weak minds” was our early motto in July of 1983 when we planted our first oyster seed in Tomales Bay, CA. We started with a five-acre shellfish lease, a handful of spat, and a headful of dreams. Marine biologists by day, oyster farmers by night, and everything else in between just to stay afloat. With partners John Finger and Terry Sawyer at the helm, Hog Island Oyster Co. has grown to become one of the premier producers of certified sustainable shellfish. With 160 acres in Tomales Bay and 90 acres in Humboldt Bay, we harvest and sell over 5 million oysters and Manila clams each year. Our thriving ‘family’ of over 300 employees cultivate, shuck, and serve an exceptional oyster experience at Hog Island locations in Petaluma, Humboldt Bay, Marshall, Napa, San Francisco, Larkspur, and Tony’s Seafood.
