Eco-Minded Farming Hog Island Oysters Sustain Tomales Bay By Carol Schmitt
Hog Island Oyster Company, nestled on the shores of Tomales Bay in the town of Marshall, plays a major role in the health of the bay’s rich intertidal ecosystem and the waters beyond. By growing eight million oysters, clams and mussels that each filter up to 50 gallons of seawater per day, by revitalizing the land above the oyster beds, and by teaming up with scientists to research and monitor ocean conditions, the owners of Hog Island are pivotal to the future of the biologically dynamic region. “Our principle is to leave the land and water in better shape than we found it,” said Terry Sawyer, founder and owner with John Finger. Bivalve mollusks are vegetarians that filter seawater to trap phytoplankton and tiny diatom algae, Sawyer said. By pulling down nutrients, the Hog Island oysters grow sweet and fat while the water becomes clearer, which in turn enables more sunshine to filter down and feed vital aquatic plants such as eelgrass. The bivalves and grasses together also lower nutrient loads, stopping devastating algal blooms before they start. Meanwhile, as their oysters filter the bay, Sawyer and Finger are transforming 250 newly acquired acres of former dairy land located above the oyster beds, using strategies like water recapture, watershed restoration and organic farming. They are also investing in new businesses, such as using marine- and land-based organic waste to create rich compost for sale. “Polyculture is more resilient,” Sawyer said about their multiple crops. “It may not look as tidy and sometimes your margin is a little less, but in the long run, we are more sustainable. That to me speaks success.” Sawyer said their success is built on a long-term view of 100 years or more. They have teamed up with UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory in Bodega Bay to research and monitor ocean conditions, such as acidification, which is the chemical nemesis of seawater’s calcium carbonate required to build stronger sea creature bones and shells. At one time, a “canary in a coalmine” was synonymous with early warnings of an environment gone wrong. Now we look to oysters in an estuary. “When you grow animals under water at the interface where land meets water, you know very quickly when something is wrong,” Sawyer said. Self-described as “former marine biologists who love to eat,” Sawyer and Finger incorporated the Hog Island Oyster Company in 1983 when they acquired 160 acres in Marshall, about 30 miles southwest of Santa Rosa. According to researchers from New York University, bivalve farming does less ecological harm than farming other aquaculture species, while producing one of the most high-protein, nutrient dense foods.
Each bivalve can filter up to 50 gallons of seawater per day, trapping phytoplankton and tiny diatom algae.
“Our principle is to leave the land and water in better shape than we found it.” “It’s amazing how much food we can produce with no input of fertilizers, negligible consumption of freshwater and reusable equipment,” Sawyer said. The company’s bounty is dished up to more than 500,000 diners annually through Hog Island’s Marshall farm and its oyster bars in downtown Napa, San Francisco and recently reopened Tony’s Seafood in Marshall. To Sawyer, the key to such aquaculture abundance is diversity. “I describe Tomales Bay as very similar to the resiliency of a native, untouched prairie in the Midwest. It is a widely dynamic system that evolved to be very diverse and not controlled by man or monoculture,” Sawyer said. “When we maintain diversity, we do things right. It’s an incredible feedback loop.” Today, along with the 3.5 million bivalves harvested by Sawyer’s team annually, the Tomales Bay is home to more than 900 species of plants and animals, many of them threatened or endangered, as well as 50,000 wintering waterbirds that make Tomales Bay their home, according to the Marin Watershed Project. This diversity makes the bay more nimble and able to adapt to changing conditions. Hog Island plays a major role in that health. In 2016, the company transitioned to become a Certified B Corporation, creating a legal means to transparently verify their social, philanthropic and environmental impact as well as track profits. Today, solar powers nearly 90 percent of operations. Company vehicles are being transitioned to either hybrid or electric. Single use plastics are virtually eliminated. And Sawyer dedicates more time to volunteering on watershed and land trust committees and boards and on broader initiatives, such as the Billion Oyster Project. “We have an imperative as a society to be as dynamic and nimble as nature,” Sawyer said.