Joanna Fogg Skye Tends Hundreds of Thousands of Oysters in Frenchman Bay

May 10

Out in Frenchman Bay, rows of black oyster cages float quietly on the surface of the water, rising and sinking with the tide. To most people passing by Mount Desert Island, they register as little more than shapes in the distance. To Joanna Fogg Skye, they are years of work, risk, patience, and belief made visible.

Fogg Skye, the founder of Bar Harbor Oyster Company, did not come from a long line of oyster farmers. She grew up on the island and spent much of her life working on the water, first as a sternman on lobster boats and later sailing private yachts through the Mediterranean and the Caribbean. But eventually, she found herself wanting something more rooted. “I wanted my only boss to be the sky and the sea,” she said.

In 2016, after years of applications, hearings, and uncertainty, she secured a 22.5-acre lease in Thomas Bay and began building what would become one of Mount Desert Island’s most recognizable oyster farms. She learned much of the trade herself, talking to other farmers, studying the process online, and enduring what she describes as “a school of very hard knocks.”

Today, Bar Harbor Oyster Company grows hundreds of thousands of oysters in the cold waters of Frenchman Bay. Fogg Skye grows a three-year oyster, longer than many oysters on the market, a process shaped by Maine’s colder temperatures and shorter growing season. The result is a shell with deep ridges and a flavor that shifts subtly throughout the year depending on rainfall, algae blooms, and water temperature.

“Each bay has its own flavor,” she explained.

Her oysters are harvested and delivered twice a week, almost entirely within Mount Desert Island. Most never travel beyond the Trenton Bridge. That hyperlocal approach is intentional. Oysters naturally filter and clean the water as they grow, and for Fogg Skye, the work is deeply tied to the future of Maine’s working waterfront.

“We’re farmers,” she said, “but we’re farming in the wild environment of the sea.”

Famous for:
Three-year oysters grown in Frenchman Bay.

105 Seabury Dr, Bar Harbor, ME | barharboroysterco.com