Recent Work – Fox Point Oysters

I’m passionate about local farms, and I’ve photographed a lot of them. This time, I turned my lens on a different kind of farm: a farm in the ocean! Fox Point Oysters is a small oyster farm in Little Bay, part of New Hampshire’s Great Bay estuary.

Like wine grapes, oysters take on a distinct local flavor based on the characteristics of the place they are grown. In the Great Bay, the mix of tidal saltwater from the Atlantic Ocean and freshwater from the rivers that flow into the bay creates a unique flavor profile: a subtle brine, a hint of fruit, and a clean finish. Yum!

Fox Point Oysters is owned and operated by Laura Brown. Laura is a New Hampshire native who left a successful career in the arts in Seattle to come ‘home’ when her sister, a marine biologist, offered to help her start an oyster farm.

The main difference between farm-raised oysters and those that grow naturally is the farmed ones are kept in mesh bags in these cages to protect them from predators, and they are tumbled regularly so the shells don’t attach to each other, which allows them to be harvested and eaten individually.

The oysters are organic, feeding naturally on phytoplankton and other nutrients in the water. Because they are filter feeders, oysters play an important role in maintaining the health of the estuary waters, making oyster farming one of the most beneficial types of aquaculture.

Fox Point Oysters takes pride in being good stewards of the bay, following strict best practices to raise high quality oysters in a safe, environmentally friendly and neighborly way, and advocating for clean water.

See more images from this project in the full project gallery. Check out their oysters, too!