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Welcome to our oyster farm located on the beautiful Pacific side of Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

Effingham Oysters

Located in a cold, pristine deep water fjord, carved out centuries ago by glaciers, Effingham oysters are some of the very best oysters in the world. They provide a unique, sweet and sea-salty flavor and buttery finish with deep, beautifully colored cup.

In the Heart of the Pacific Rim National Park

Effingham Inlet is located in Barkley Sound, home to the Broken Group Islands in the Pacific Rim National Park. The area is internationally recognized for it’s kayaking & camping & is easily accessible to visitors in the summer months via the MV Frances Barkley.

Lady Rose Marine Services will transport paddlers, kayaks & canoes to Sechart, on the fringe of the Broken Group Islands. The vessel travels between Port Alberni, the Broken Group Islands, and the fishing ports of Ucluelet and Bamfield year round. Bamfield is home to a world class teaching and research facility.

If fishing is on your bucket list, check out Alberni Charters, for a true BC salmon fishing adventure with crabbing, prawning & wildlife watching all along the Alberni Inlet to Barkley Sound. They specialize in overnight fishing vacations, winter fishing charters, guided sport fishing for chinook, coho, chum, sockeye, steelhead, and halibut plus breathtaking eco-tours.

Visitors to the Pacific Rim National Park can also enjoy Green Point Campground, located on a bluff above Long Beach near Tofino. Long Beach is home to some of BC’s best surfing.

Farm

An Effingham oyster’s life starts in a hatchery. For us that hatchery is Nova Harvest, located in Bamfield, BC. We buy millions of tiny “seed” oysters, planning several years in advance, to ensure a consistent supply – year round, year after year.

At the farm, seed can be raised in the flupsy (floating upwelling system) or in special trays on our rafts. The benefit of the flupsy is that it boosts the oyster seeds’ growth rate by increasing the availability of water flow and food. Nothing is added to the water, oysters feast on phytoplankton (microscopic marine algae) which is readily available in water column.

When the oysters get a little bigger, they are transferred into stackable trays, which are then suspended from rafts. They are sorted and conditioned every 4 to 6 weeks using our SED Vision Grader, see video below. This process of tumbling gently chips the shells, simulating the tumbling of oysters on a beach. This process promotes stronger shells and deeper cups. Oysters reach market size in about 18 to 36 months.

Oysters

We produce a Crassostrea gigas or Pacific Oyster.

Oysters are sweet and salty with a buttery finish. The flavour changes depending on the time of year, depth and available plankton in the water column.

Petite, 2 to 2.5″

This oyster is perfect for those who prefer a delicate oyster.

Extra Small, 2.5 to 3″

Our most popular raw bar oyster.

Small, 3 to 4″

The original “Effing” oyster, for those who like a mouth full.

Medium & Large Oyster, 4 to 5″ & 5 to 6″

Perfect for the barbeque.

Media

“We have full exposure to the Pacific Ocean on the west side of Vancouver Island. Clean Pacific water comes in with every wave and tide, feeding and then flushing our oysters as it goes out again. The water is incredibly clean, and always tests above and beyond anyone’s standards.
We can change the oysters depending on the depth where they’re grown. In the winter we grow them close to the surface, where the limited food is most available. This produces the plumpest happiest oyster possible. In the summer we lower them to 30 feet to keep them in cold, crisp water, which prevents them from spawning. This keeps the oyster firm and sweet. Growing the oysters in deep water means the oysters taste like the ocean, not the beach.
You have to love oyster farming to keep at it, because you’re farming in all kinds of weather. We have a very diverse and happy team of people of all ages, men and women and local First Nations people – about nine of us in peak season.”
Taken from #BeShellfish for BC Oysters, Effingham Oysters at https://www.eatbcoysters.ca/mica-verbrugge/