Basic Profile

Origin
Lower Delaware Bay, Cape May County, New Jersey, USA
Species
Crassostrea virginica (Eastern oyster)
Classification
Farmed; sold under farm names such as Cape May Salt
Farming Method
Rack-and-bag on the intertidal flats of the bay shore
Producer
Cape May Salt Oyster Farm (from 1997) and other growers on the Cape Shore
Visual Signature
Eastern oyster shell; about two years from seed to market

On the Delaware Bay side of New Jersey's Cape May peninsula, oysters grow in mesh bags on low racks set across the tidal flats. Cape May Salt Oyster Farm, started in 1997, was the first farm of the modern rack-and-bag era to grow at commercial scale on the bay, and its oysters take about two years from seed to market.1

The A.J. Meerwald, a restored Delaware Bay oyster schooner, in Cape May Harbor
The A.J. Meerwald, a restored Delaware Bay oyster schooner, in Cape May Harbor. Photo: Smallbones / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

Seed Bred to Survive

Delaware Bay's oysters were hit hard by disease. The parasite MSX began killing oysters there in 1957. Harold Haskin of Rutgers University responded with a breeding program that produced strains highly resistant to MSX, the foundation of Rutgers' shellfish genetics work.2 Rutgers has worked on the Cape Shore since 1928, added a hatchery there in 1994 and opened an Aquaculture Innovation Center in 2010.2 Cape May's farms grow oysters from that research on disease-resistant Eastern oysters.1 The parasite's wider damage is traced in the diseases that redrew the oyster map.

Sharing the Shore With Red Knots

Every May, between 50 and 80% of the world's rufa red knots, a threatened shorebird, stop on Delaware Bay's beaches to feed on horseshoe crab eggs during a migration of some 7,500 miles from Tierra del Fuego to the Arctic. Because the oyster racks sit on the same flats, a 2016 federal biological opinion set rules for the farms, including raising rack heights from 8 to 14 inches, across 6.5 miles of shoreline over ten years.1 A Cape May oyster is farmed around one of the great wildlife events on the East Coast.

Flavor Breakdown

The water
Lower Delaware Bay, near the mouth, where ocean water keeps salt higher than upriver. Expect a saltier oyster than the upper bay produces; see how salinity shapes flavor.
The oyster
Grown in mesh bags on low racks across the flats and ready in about two years.1

What Makes Cape May Unique

Cape May's farms grow oysters descended from Rutgers' breeding work against MSX, the parasite that began killing Delaware Bay oysters in 1957.2 They also share the flats with one of the East Coast's great bird migrations: every May most of the world's rufa red knots stop here, and federal rules raised the racks from 8 to 14 inches along 6.5 miles of shore.1

A salty Delaware Bay oyster bred to survive disease and farmed around a bird migration. Order it in autumn and think of the red knots.

Should You Add Lemon?

Cautiously

A squeeze suits a salty oyster; try one plain first.

Pairing Guide

1
Muscadet or Albariño

Lean, salty whites for a salty bay oyster.

2
Dry cider

Crisp and easy with a dozen.

OptimalMignonette
AcceptableLemon
AvoidHeavy cocktail sauce

Who Is This For?

Will love it
  • Birders and anyone who likes food with a conservation story
  • Visitors to Cape May
Sources
  1. Duchene, L. (September 16, 2019). "In Delaware Bay, a delicate balancing act for shellfish farms." Responsible Seafood Advocate, Global Seafood Alliance. globalseafood.org
  2. Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory, Rutgers University. "History." hsrl.rutgers.edu
Tasting notes & flavor profile in the Oysterminds app →