Edible Delmarva

Chesapeake Oystering

• Photo by Jay Fleming

  "They just taste of the essence of the sea and all of its wildness and romance and adventure. It startles me every time I taste a good oyster, just how rich and magnificent an experience it is." -- Mark Kurlansky, author of The Big Oyster, on NPR, 2006

• Photo by Jay Fleming

  Hand Tongers, harvesting wild oysters, work at the mouth of Broad Creek near its confluence to the Choptank River. Neavitt, Maryland

• Photo by Jay Fleming

  There is a different knife for every type of oyster. The structure of a shell determines what knife is best to use for shucking.

• This wild oyster is also home to a pea crab.

• Photo by Jay Fleming

  Johnny Shockley of Hoopers Island Oyster Company empties the dredge full of oysters and shell while power dredging in Fishing Bay. Crocheron, Maryland

• Photo by Jay Fleming

  Hand Tongers, silhouetted at sunrise, work in Broad Creek. Neavitt, Maryland.

• Photo by Jay Fleming

  Justin Leondhardt, the hatchery manager at Hoopers Island Oyster Company, works in the nursery on the Honga River. Fishing Creek, Maryland

• Photo by Jay Fleming

  Oyster shuckers lined up in the shucking room at Harris Seafood, one of two full-time shucking houses in Maryland. They process oysters year-round and ship live oysters and shucked meats to markets throughout the United States. Grasonville, Maryland

• Photo by Jay Fleming

  Oyster Shucker Anna Rogers poses for a portrait outside of the shucking room at Harris Seafood. Anna uses empty bread bags to keep her clothing clean while working, a tradition that was handed down to her from her grandmother, who also shucked oysters at Queen Anne’s County Shucking houses throughout her career. Grasonville, Maryland

• Photo by Jay Fleming

  Nationally-ranked shucker Gardner Douglas serves up oysters harvested by hand tongers working in Broad Creek. Bozman,Maryland.

• Photo by Jay Fleming

  Oyster seed used in aquaculture at Harris Seafood. Grasonville, Maryland.