From oyster brood to table, a photo essay

Georgia just wrapped up its first summer oyster harvest season. Traditionally, oyster harvesting was limited to cooler months, with the season closing from May 1 to Sept. 30, when bacteria harmful to humans, like Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus, are most active. New regulations passed by the Georgia Board of Natural Resources’ Coastal Resources Division now permit closed-season harvesting under strict conditions. 

To be compliant, harvesters must submit a comprehensive harvesting plan, maintain detailed logs, and refrigerate oysters within two hours of removal from the water. The state requires oysters to remain submerged for at least 14 consecutive days prior to harvest, unlike wild oysters, which are exposed twice daily due to tidal fluctuations.

To meet that requirement, Perry and Laura Solomon, owners of the Tybee Oyster Company, turned to floating baskets. As one of two active surface farming operations in the state, the mom-and-pop company has been collaborating with the GADNR for several years to help supply fresh, local oysters to restaurants year-round.

Here’s a look at the process, from hatchery to table…

Georgia’s farmed oysters start life on the banks of Skidaway Island at the UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant’s Shellfish Research Lab. The lab, which began producing oysters in 2015, sold 3 million oyster seeds in 2024 alone. 

Broodstock oysters are harvested locally from Wassaw Sound in Chatham County and near Sapelo Island in McIntosh County. They are then selected for their genetic traits, such as size and color, before being held in baskets at the UGA dock on the Skidaway River.

Once oysters mature and are ready to spawn, they’re pulled from the river and placed into small tanks, where shifting water temperatures mimic the seasonal changes that trigger them to release sperm and eggs.

Once fertilized, the microscopic larvae are raised in large tanks of filtered saltwater, which are supplemented with algae and maintained at controlled temperatures. 

After 8 to 10 days, the tank is drained, and the larvae, now referred to as spat, are strained out and transferred to fresh tanks, where they feed on algae and grow to the size of a poppy seed. When the spat reach this size, they’re sold to farms like the Tybee Oyster Company.

Located in the Chatham County Mariculture Zone at the mouth of the Bull River near Wilmington Island, the Solomons have invested in row after row of specially designed floating baskets used to grow oysters to maturity. 

The baskets keep the oysters submerged in saltwater throughout their entire life, reducing the risk of bacterial growth and increasing their saltiness. 

Using a specifically designed barge lashed to their skiff, the Solomons hoist the baskets out of the water and empty the oysters into bins for transport. 

Meticulous logs must be kept in accordance with the rules set by GADNR. Once the first oyster is removed from the water, the Solomons have two hours to get their daily harvest onshore and in cold storage.

The oysters are immediately refrigerated at their headquarters on Wilmington Island. They are then sorted, bagged, and returned to refrigeration before transport to one of 14 area restaurants that serve the Tybee Oyster Company’s “Salt Bomb” oysters.