Our Story

Ned's Island is a small uninhabited island off the Connecticut shores of Long Island Sound. Its last inhabitant was a Native American known locally only as 'Ned'. He made his home on the island, attracted by its solitude and tranquility. The surrounding clean, high salinity waters have made this area renowned for oyster harvesting for hundreds of years. It is the home of the esteemed 'Blue Point Oyster' unique to Long Island Sound. The absence of any nearby rivers or streams and continuously flushed cool seawater ensures a consistent high salinity environment resulting in superb quality oysters with a delicious taste.

Our oysters are farmed rather than simply harvested from the ocean. This means that we select the fastest growing most disease-resistant oysters from our abundant stocks and use them to begin the next generation of oysters. While wild oysters typically spawn in early July, we can simulate the proper water temperature in our hatchery and induce our oysters to spawn several times, thereby greatly increasing the number of oysters we produce.

Oyster farming is a sustainable activity that actually improves the marine environment rather than flooding it with pollutants, as some other types of aquaculture do. Our farmed oysters are approved as sustainably produced by Greenpeace, Audubon Society and the Seafood Choice Alliance. Our oysters are all harvested from traditional oyster beds. Compared to those grown in cages, naturally grown oysters mature a little slower but are of a much higher quality with plump meat within a small, thick, rounded shell. The consistent high quality of these oysters enables us to sell exclusively to the prestigious half-shell market. All harvesting is carried out under strict State of Connecticut health regulations from State certified waters to ensure a consistently safe, high quality product.






Ned's Island

Culture

The Hatchery

To ensure a reliable supply of quality oysters all of Ned's Island Oysters begin life cultured in our hatchery. Our hatchery is located in Norwalk, Connecticut on the site of the old Riddell Oyster Company. Hatchery production of oysters begins with the selection of good quality broodstock. These will be the parents of the next generation of oysters. Broodstock are selected for good shape, condition, fast growth and health. These are the characteristics that we hope will be passed down to all our oysters.

Wild oysters in Long Island Sound spawn in early summer as the waters warm to about 70F. In the hatchery we can extend the spawning season from January to August by controlling water temperature. The oysters are fed a diet of several species of live algae. This too is cultured at the hatchery. When the broodstock are ready to spawn they are placed in a tank of seawater heated to about 85C. The increase in temperature mimics the warming waters of early summer and the oysters spawn, releasing eggs into the water.

A female oyster can release up to 15 million eggs, so only a few females are needed to begin a culture. We usually aim to collect about 100 million eggs per spawn. After spawning the eggs are fertilized, collected on a fine screen and stocked into our larvae tanks. Within 30 minutes the eggs begin to develop into the microscopic larval oysters. These remain in the larvae tanks for about two weeks where they grow from about 1/20mm to 1/4 mm. During this time the larvae are fed a similar live algae diet. After about two weeks the oysters begin to end their free swimming stage and begin to look for a suitable substrate on which to attach. In the wild this would be an old oyster or clam shell, rock, piling etc.



In the hatchery we provide the larvae with a supply of clean, finely ground clam shell known as micro-cultch. At this stage the larvae develop a single eye spot that detects light. They use this to move away from the light toward the bottom of the tank. The larvae also develop a single 'foot' that is used to feel around for a suitable surface. After two or three days most of the larvae have attached to the grains of micro-cultch in a process known as 'setting'. They then begin a process of metamorphosis where they transform from the free-swimming larvae to the familiar sedentary oyster. After this change the oysters begin to grow very rapidly. Within a week they are about 1mm and ready to be transferred to our nursery.

The Nursery and Growout

At the nursery stage the oyster seed are for the first time placed in natural, unfiltered seawater. Here, they feed on the natural algae found in the seawater. To increase growth the seed is cultured in flowing water. This provides a constant supply of food and oxygen and carries away silt and waste products. The most efficient way to ensure good water flow is by using upweller tanks. In these the oyster seed are placed on a screen and the seawater is channeled up vertically through the seed mass. Up to one million seed can culture in a single upweller with the seed several centimeters deep.



After one or two months the seed reach a size of about half inch and are transferred to plastic mesh trays. These are suspended from floats or placed on the seabed. At a size of about one and half inches the oysters are ready to be planted on the traditional oyster beds. At this size they are large enough to resist most predators such as crabs. The beds are selected to provide an optimum environment for the growing oysters. The best beds are in relatively shallow water with a clean gravel seabed and a good tidal flow. After planting, the oysters remain undisturbed for about two years at which time they will have grown to a market size of about three inches. The oysters are harvested by traditional oyster dredge boats. Harvesting is done to fill specific orders, so the oysters are actually sold before they come off the seabed.