CT unveils the first ‘Oyster Trails' map for restaurants, farms and retail

Connecticut oysters are really a treasure, and they’re about to get a bit easier to find.

“There’s no reason why people shouldn’t be getting excited about oysters in Connecticut. They’re incredible,” said Beth Simonds, owner of Stonington Farms Shellfish, a family and majority women-owned business that launched in 2017.

They’re now on the map. The Connecticut Department of Tourism’s oyster trail map released Wednesday.

“We just do it,” Simonds said. “But then when you stop and you look at all these people that are excited and they appreciate what you do, it kind of makes you stop for a minute and think ‘this is really cool what we’re doing.’”

Stonington Farms and other oyster companies gathered together at Shell and Bones for the launch of the map. It includes 13 farms, 10 stores and 22 restaurants so oyster lovers can travel the state for unique oyster experiences.

Governor Ned Lamont also encouraged restaurants selling oysters to make sure they are also selling local oysters.

“Everybody’s oysters, even though they’re the same species, they look slightly different,” Simonds said. “Depending on where and how they’re grown, they’re going to taste slightly different. So, you really do get a variety, just from Connecticut oysters.”

“Each of the farmers has a huge impact on how it’s grown and the ultimate outcome,” Anthony Anthony, chief marketing officer of the Department of Tourism, said.

He said new laws in the state have made it easier for oyster farmers to get licenses, so he expects to see a boom in the industry.

“We’re at the point where all of these oyster farms who just recently came into the market are about to go to market, so we’re about to explode with the amount of oysters we’re providing,” Anthony said.

There are 20 million oysters harvested each year in Connecticut generating $4 billion to the economy, making now a good time to hop on the oyster trail.