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Oyster farmers tend to their aquatic crop on the tidal flats of the Marennes-Oléron basin on France’s central coast, one of the oldest and largest oyster-growing areas in Europe. Even though the filter-feeders need no additional food, producing healthy oysters takes a lot of work. The oysters are grown in bags suspended from racks and must be turned periodically to remove mud and algae, as well as to break up clumps that limit water flow. Unlike in other French oyster-producing areas, the larger oysters here are removed from the bags and matured in shallow brackish ponds near shore, where they gorge on phytoplankton that make them fat and flavorful. Although it produces half the yield of oyster beds in Normandy, this is the only oyster-growing region to be awarded the coveted Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), putting it on epicurean par with Champagne.

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Oyster farmers tend to their aquatic crop on the tidal flats of the Marennes-Oléron basin on France’s central coast, one of the oldest and largest oyster-growing areas in Europe. Even though the filter-feeders need no additional food, producing healthy oysters takes a lot of work. The oysters are grown in bags suspended from racks and must be turned periodically to remove mud and algae, as well as to break up clumps that limit water flow. Unlike in other French oyster-producing areas, the larger oysters here are removed from the bags and matured in shallow brackish ponds near shore, where they gorge on phytoplankton that make them fat and flavorful. Although it produces half the yield of oyster beds in Normandy, this is the only oyster-growing region to be awarded the coveted Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), putting it on epicurean par with Champagne.

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