Rocky Pass oysters are Pacific Oysters, Crassostrea gigas. They are grown in Stedman Cove and Big John Bay, just off Rocky Pass, on the south side of Frederick Sound, 12 miles south of the village of Kake.

    The oysters are grown using both beach culture and suspended culture methods. While suspended, the oysters live below a buoy attached to a floating longline. Because the oysters do not set on the bottom, they grow fast and are never gritty.

    Oysters are harvested for sale weekly. After each harvest, a representative sample is sent to Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) for paralytic shellfish poison (PSP) testing. Fifteen years of weekly testing by ADEC have shown Rocky Pass oysters to be dependably free of PSP. Due to the clean, cool Alaskan waters, neither vibrio nor pollution is ever a problem. The cold water also prevents sexual maturation or “spawniness” which is associated with summer oysters grown in more southern waters.

    At harvest, all oysters are carefully packed cup-side-down to retain the liquor, and shipped within 24 hours of harvest.

    Although the closest community to Stedman Cove is the village of Kake, water samples are collected semi-annually by ADEC to provide continued assurance of the highest quality seawater.