Aquaculture is permitted to continue under the state shelter order, but local farmers are wondering what will happen to the millions of oysters growing in Tomales Bay, considering that restaurants—the main shellfish market—are either closed or sticking to foods that are easier for take-out.
“We have no business,” said Terry Sawyer, the co-owner of Hog Island Oyster Company, the biggest oyster grower on the bay. “For anybody that’s dealing with a customer service business, customers are being told to shelter in place and to social distance. They are only needing to go to the grocery store, or get what’s already prepared at a restaurant curbside. That’s what caused us to close our doors. We can’t have our staff all together anyhow.”
Hog Island has furloughed 90 percent of its 300 employees, and closed or greatly reduced operations at the company’s five restaurants. The employees still working are keeping up basic operations on the farm, at the hatchery in Humboldt Bay, and for a delivery service operating out of the company’s Larkspur restaurant. Some are also continuing retail operations during restricted hours at both the Napa restaurant and at the farm in Marshall.
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