Hog Island Oyster Company

People

John Finger and Terry Sawyer, market manager Bryan Zeron Flores, farm manager Hector Molinaro, and 100 full-time employees

Farmland

150 saltwater acres in Tomales Bay and 45 acres in Humboldt Bay, about 50 miles to San Francisco

About

Hog Island Oyster Company was founded in 1982 with a five-acre lease in north Tomales Bay. The partners, both marine biologists, applied their knowledge of animal husbandry and aquaculture to designing a high-tech farm, adapting and improving the best techniques used around the world to suit Tomales Bay. Today, the company leases over 150 acres and grows their shellfish using the single seed method from seed produced at their hatchery in Humboldt Bay. Although this method is expensive and labor intensive, it allows them to produce oysters and clams of unparalleled quality. Hog Island occasionally contracts with other oyster sources in the Pacific Northwest to supply the farmers market during the rainy season.