Living in Seattle can make an oyster eater a little smug. Washington produces some of the best, and we know it. We have opinions about mignonette—do or don’t?—and can find a good dozen without leaving the neighborhood. So when an invitation to Southeast Alaska promised oysters that were “INSANE!” I wanted to see how they measured up to the ones back home.
Ketchikan is a popular stop on Alaska cruises from Seattle, with sailings continuing through October. The ships tower over the low waterfront, and a day in port gives oyster lovers time to taste the harvest or take a scheduled farm tour. But you don’t need a cruise booking to get there. A nonstop flight from Seattle takes a little over two hours—making it an easy weekend getaway. I joined a small group to visit a few oyster farms around Ketchikan and Prince of Wales Island.
Alaska’s modern oyster industry is still relatively young, with more than 20 farms across the state. Growers harvested a record 2.4 million oysters in 2024, according to the Alaska Mariculture. Most farms raise Pacific oysters, like those here in Washington, but Alaska’s icy-cold water slows their growth—harvest can take three to five years (versus about 18 months in warmer waters), depending on conditions and growing method. And sharing a species doesn’t mean sharing a flavor—I noticed differences in taste and texture from farm to farm.
Some of the best oysters I’ve ever had are grown in Alaska’s cold waters.
Photo courtesy of Tommaso Shellfish
At the farms we visited, oysters grew in floating baskets and cages or in trays suspended beneath rafts. Farmers clean them, remove predators, and sort them by size, returning smaller oysters to keep growing. Flipping floating gear out of the water dries out unwanted growth, while tumbling chips away fragile shell edges, encouraging sturdier shells and deeper cups.
At Blue Starr Oysters, Eric Wyatt grows large, plump oysters nestled in deep cups filled with liquor—the oyster’s own salty liquid. We ate them right there on the floating farm, with the water moving beneath us. Each taste began with a rush of brine, followed by a creamy texture and a savory finish. It was hard to imagine a better place to eat an oyster. They were the favorite among my fellow travelers.
Wyatt also sells young oysters to other growers. At his floating nursery, he tends several million tiny oysters in screens and tanks. Some arrive only a few millimeters wide—and yes, they are really cute. He raises them until they’re large enough to send to other growers and estimates that he supplies seed to about 15 Alaska farms.
The tiniest catch: baby oysters growing at Blue Starr’s floating nursery.
Photo by Sarah Stackhouse
After years of fishing in summer and tending oysters in winter, Wyatt sold most of his fishing operation to concentrate on the farm. He finds oyster farming more collaborative than fishing and shares advice with newcomers, whose success strengthens the industry—and whose farms may become his customers.
We rode out on a skiff to see Wyatt’s Flipfarm system in action. Developed in New Zealand, it uses an attachment on the boat to turn oyster baskets out of the water along the line. Watching the baskets flip, I could imagine the strain of hauling each one by hand. Wyatt flew to New Zealand to see the system in operation. Much of the money from selling his fishing boat, he says, went into this new setup.
Blue Starr may have won the group vote (and they are delicious), but Jimmy Greeley and Katie Bode grow my personal favorites at Tommaso Shellfish. Their oysters are full-bodied and pillowy, with a rich umami flavor unlike any I’d tasted before.
At Tommaso Shellfish, a two-person operation, every oyster takes years of tending before it’s ready to eat.
Courtesy of Tommaso Shellfish
The couple works from a small floating house on Sea Otter Sound, built partly with red cedar milled on Prince of Wales Island. Greeley learned oyster farming after his father began developing the farm around 2006. Bode joined him about a decade ago, learning by sorting, tumbling, packing, taking orders, and doing every other job that came up.
“We are a two-person operation,” Bode says. During summer, the couple may stay at the farm four days a week. Getting the oysters out is a tall order. They wash, count, chill, and pack the harvest before sending it on by boat, road, ferry, cargo plane, or seaplane. They say oysters typically reach customers about two days after harvest, and you can order directly from the farm.
Co-owner Katie Bode shucks oysters on the porch of the floating home on a particularly beautiful Alaska afternoon.
Photo by Sarah Stackhouse
“It’s a really rewarding job,” Bode says. “It’s really hard work and not every day is like this.” We had arrived during a rare stretch of blue skies and warm temperatures, and I found myself romanticizing their life a little—a floating house surrounded by the wild beauty of Alaska (with delicious oysters growing right outside). But the more they told us, the more I admired the work itself, from getting there on snowy winter roads to tending the oysters for years. I’d eaten so many oysters on ice without giving much thought to the people who raised them. Here were two of them, showing us what it took.
At Seagrove’s Hump Island Oyster Company farm, visitors can see some of this work for themselves. Bonfire Bay Tour Company offers a tour, bringing guests from downtown Ketchikan by road, then boat. The farm sits sheltered between Hump and Betton islands, above a deep channel where the current carries food to the oysters. There’s even a piece of Seattle here—a hunk of the old I-90 floating bridge serves as a breakwater.
The next generation of Alaska Gems, at Hump Island Oyster Farm.
Courtesy of Seagrove Oysters
Some of the work, though, involves uninvited diners. Our guide explained that sea stars can enter the growing equipment while tiny and grow up among the oysters, surrounded by lunch. Workers collect them in buckets for release elsewhere in the channel, a practice the guide calls a “starfish relocation program.” The farm also places sea urchins among the oysters to eat microscopic sea-star eggs before they can develop.
After touring the farm, head upstairs to the little restaurant for briny oysters with a cucumber finish, served with your choice of sauces, a beer or glass of wine, and a few other snacks. You can also try Seagrove’s Alaska Gem oysters without leaving Seattle—they’re sold at Elliott’s Oyster House and some Safeway stores.
For a taste of several farms in one stop, head to the Alaskan Oyster Shack at Newtown Wharf in Ketchikan. Owner Maura Scudero knows all the farmers and the waters each oyster comes from. During our visit, she served the oysters raw with house-made sauces and lemon, and grilled with pickled ginger, alongside sourdough and whipped sweet butter tucked into an oyster shell.
Right on the Ketchikan waterfront, the Alaskan Oyster Shack serves oysters from several Southeast Alaska farms.
There’s an outdoor area right on the dock for Alaska’s nicer months, with gulls overhead and cruise ships towering nearby. The oysters arrive in paper boats and trays lined with red-and-white checkered paper. Washington still has plenty to be proud of, but I’d come back for another few dozen of these anytime.
If you go:
Getting there
Alaska Airlines operates nonstop flights between Seattle and Ketchikan. Cruise passengers should confirm excursions and timing with their ship.
Where to stay
Cape Fox Lodge offers rooms overlooking Ketchikan and the surrounding water, with dining at its Heen Kahidi restaurant.
Visit a farm
Bonfire Bay Tour Company offers tours and tastings at Hump Island Oyster Farm. Check seasonal availability.
Eat and drink in Ketchikan
The Alaskan Oyster Shack serves Southeast Alaska oysters near the cruise docks.
For a meal you help prepare, The Local Table offers cooking classes featuring local ingredients.
Fireside Feast serves a seasonal, multicourse outdoor dinner overlooking the Tongass Narrows.
Stop at Uncharted Alaska Distillery for a cocktail made with its kelp vodka, or book a bottle-infusion experience to blend a spirit to take home.
Keep tasting
The Alaska Oyster Voyage provides a tasting log and map of participating locations.
