MAINE SUNDAY TELEGRAM • October 22, 2023
Maine has more than 150 licensed oyster farms stretching from Kittery to Washington County. Maine’s oyster farmers last year hauled in more than 3 million pounds of the bivalves with an $8.3 million value. The Maine Oyster Trail is a tourism initiative featuring an interactive online map and other key info about Maine oysters. Many millennials and older Gen Zers are looking for “green career opportunities.” “Oyster farming is a sustainable living and a great way to produce food with a low impact,” said Afton Vigue of the Maine Aquaculture Association. Of the five oyster species native to the United States, the Eastern oyster is native to Maine. The state has four general oyster farming “regions”: southern Maine, Casco Bay, Midcoast and Down East. The majority of Maine farms are clustered together along the coast and the Damariscotta and New Meadows rivers. The time is right to slurp down some oysters, and celebrate the fruits of Maine’s oyster farms.