• Oyster Boat
  • Oyster Cages
  • Harvest
  • Oyster Cages
  • Boat Tag
  • Tour Boat Cleaning
  • Tour Boat
About Chapel Creek Oyster Company

In company founder Trey Sower's words...

How Did We Get Started?
I am a Virginia Tech Graduate who majored in Geology and earned my masters in Secondary Science Education.

How does one with a teaching and geology background end up an oyster farmer one might ask?

When we started our family we decided my wife (also Tech graduate and science teacher) would stay in the classroom and I was going to be a stay-at-home dad/business owner. At first it was home building, and I loved it. Unfortunately, the markets were not in my favor. So I wondered what I could I do that would allow me to stay at home with my sons - we now have two. I also wanted to do something that would be good for the environment and pay the electric bill. Oyster farming was a natural fit.

At first we were very small, but now we are growing and producing 70,000-to-100,000 world-class oyster a year. And now we are adding tours to our repertoire.

Tours
This idea sprang from the fact that a lot of people were curious about how oyster aquaculture works. I have learned a lot in the last few years about how to successfully grow these little mollusks and it's fun to show people the progression from tiny two-millemeter seed to the full-grown oyster. Also, Chapel Creek is beautiful. I really enjoy sharing there experience of cruising the creek with others. Thanks to our friends at the Inn at Tabb Creek and the Boathouse Restaurant for opening my eyes to that.

Why We're Different
People love us. Thanks to that, we have a faithful following. It doesn't hurt that our oysters taste wonderfully unique. Beyond that, people like the fact that the oyster farm is sustainable, it helps the Bay, and they like to support a small farm.

I began oyster farming to do something beneficial for the environment and be able to spend time with my sons. So far so good. Please continue to enjoy our oysters, then come down and take a fun-filled trip on the Piankatank.