Salt Pond Oysters are grown by Dave Roebuck in Point Judith Pond, Rhode Island. He plants them straight on the pond floor and harvests by bull rake and scuba.
Brine3/ 5
Sweetness3/ 5
Minerality3/ 5
Umami2/ 5
USA · Crassostrea virginica · finish sweet · texture creamy · lemon yes · 22–29 ppt · 1–22 °C · best October to April
Basic Profile
Origin
Point Judith Pond, South Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA
Species
Crassostrea virginica (Eastern Oyster)
Classification
Farmed; single producer
Farming Method
Seed nursed in a pontoon upweller, then planted directly on the pond bottom
Producer
Salt Pond Oysters (Dave Roebuck)
Visual Signature
Eastern oyster shell
Dave Roebuck's farm is one of five in Point Judith Pond. Where most Rhode Island growers keep their oysters in mesh cages, he plants his directly on the pond bottom and harvests them with a bull rake or on scuba.1
Lobster boats at Galilee, Rhode Island, with Point Judith Pond behind them. Photo: Juliancolton / Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
The Pontoon Upweller
In the early 2000s Roebuck and his brother Greg built a nursery on a pontoon: an upweller that pumps pond water up through bins of tiny oysters. It holds several million seed, more than his own farm needs, and he sells the surplus to farms from New Jersey to New Hampshire.1
Roebuck also co-founded the Ocean State Oyster Festival in 2015. Rhode Island now has more than 50 oyster farms.1 Another pond a few miles west is covered in the Matunuck profile.
Flavor Breakdown
The water
A four-mile salt pond behind barrier beach, open to the sea through one breachway. Our scores are level at three for brine, sweetness and minerality.
The effect of the bottom
An oyster that grows loose on the pond floor builds a thicker shell and a stronger muscle than one in a cage. The meat is creamy, and the finish is sweet.
What Makes Salt Pond Unique
Bottom planting is the old way to farm oysters. This farm still does it, and supplies seed to others who do not.1
A sturdy, creamy Rhode Island oyster with a real shell on it.
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