Know Your (Oyster) Farmer: Matt Herr of Grey Lady Oysters

Story by Virginia Bullington, Photography by Dan Lemaitre. In partnership with Flotsam Magazine.

Matt Herr has had a long and varied career on the water, but nothing could have prepared him for the demands of oyster farming, 

“My number one joy out there is being independent. I’m not a real chatty guy, I kinda like going out there, putting my nose to the grindstone and getting into the whole pulse of working on the water,” said Herr. “Oystering has a way of taking over whatever else you are trying to do. It is definitely very difficult to walk away when you know the consequences of doing so, which was never the case with my other fishing endeavors.”

Before starting his oyster farm in 2013, Herr was a commercial fisherman on island for 30 years. He began fishing for cod fresh out of college on island in the late 80s with Chris Westerlund, then switched to lobstering in the 90s. In 1996 he obtained a conch permit and boat which he operated until 2020, and has commercially scalloped since 1988. 

“Starting an oyster farm was a way of diversifying from commercial fishing,” said Herr. “The way I have always done my commercial fishing, just me and one other helper, has been my comfort zone. I thought I could do that with oyster farming as well, and so far I have been able to, but with commercial fishing you can stop and start as you see fit, and you can’t really do that with oyster farming. Sometimes it feels like you can never take a day off.”

For this reason, Herr has determined to shrink the footprint of the operation, in part to ensure that his product meets a specific standard that he feels is the hallmark of his farm.

“We love growing a certain quality of oyster which I don’t foresee changing in the future,” said Herr. 

Unlike Pocomo Meadow, Fifth Bend, or Island oysters, Herr’s oysters are grown entirely in deep water with no time spent in the shallows of Pocomo. Just as “terroir” is central to the taste of a fine wine, the subtle differences of the environment in which an oyster is grown contributes to its flavor.

“I feel like the deep water experience of the oyster gives you a less complex flavor, but there is a cleanness to it,” explained Herr. “Everyone is different in what they are looking for, but those oysters that are raised up off of the bottom are very clean and crisp tasting, that’s purely what the oyster itself tastes like.”

Another aspect that factors into the flavor of an oyster is the gear in which it is grown in. 

“How fouled your gear is and how diligent you are in keeping your gear clean will also impact that clean, crisp taste,” said Herr. “Bio-fouling can be an influence on the flavor of the oyster which some people may really appreciate.”

Bio-fouling refers to the colonization of seaweed, barnacles, and other organisms on equipment.

“If you have a cage out there that you didn’t even look at for a whole year, it would be so overcome with organisms and form its own ecosystem which would influence the flavor of the oysters, in the same way that the seaweed on the bottom influences the flavor of the oysters grown on other farms,” said Herr. “I try to preempt the fouling by exposing the cages and the oysters to the air on a regular basis, it takes diligence, you have to get to every cage and reset the button on that colonization process.”

While the proliferation of life and activity in the ecosystem of the harbor makes oyster farming an around the clock job, it is also one of the aspects that Herr values the most.

“It is very in the moment, you are communing with nature and beautiful, unexpected things are happening on a fairly regular basis, I have always loved that. It is a unique and genuine life pathway,” said Herr. “I never thought that I would be successful at it, and now here I am. And now that I have kids I would love to share what I know and teach them all of the things you can learn about life, work, and the natural world on the water.”

Central to Herr’s desire to teach the public about the joys of spending time on the water is his deep concern for the wellbeing of the harbor. He acknowledges that the decline in the quality of the water has been slow and subtle, but fears for the day when the harbor is brown and bay scalloping is a thing of the past. 

“Nantucket is such a desirable location and the pressure to develop is so extreme, my hope is with the wealth we have here that people will start to think out of the box and if the message sinks in, we could afford some mitigation strategies that we can’t at the moment,” said Herr. “Getting the Jetties raised was a huge feat, getting the Brant Point lab up and running was a huge feat and seemed like such a pipe dream for so long. When I look at things like that it gives me hope that the next big step will come about, it’s just going to take a lot of work to convince a lot of people that this stuff matters.”