We fell in love with the serenity of this peaceful fishing village, the safe and close-knit feeling of the community, and the uniqueness of the breakwater. Some people are intimidated by Oregon coastal weather, but we love the cool breezes and cloud-dappled skies—with just enough storms each winter to let you know you’re alive.

We found our ways to Winchester Bay separately. Cindy is Oregon-born (Pendleton) and headed south after attending school in Portland. Vern moved to Oregon as a young man and came to work as a fish culturist after graduating from the U of O. We each had the need to be near the ocean and had decided Winchester Bay was the perfect place to start a business as well as raise children—Vern’s daughter, Cedar, and Cindy's two, Lucy and Lydia.

We joined forces in 1991 and experimented with growing a variety of shellfish crops in the triangle, including oysters—the demand for which was insatiable. Once you’ve had oysters raised under the unique growing conditions provided by the 20%/80% blend of fresh Oregon rainwater and crisp saltwater, it spoils you for any others—you have to come back for more!

The real secret of the clean sweet taste of Umpqua Triangle Oysters is our innovative long-line technique of suspending the growing oysters on 15- foot lengths of rope that form nearly two miles of oyster “curtains.” These allow the oysters to bob up and down with the tide over the course of their two- to four-year growing cycle.

Suspension surpasses the traditional method of raising oysters in beds where they’re exposed to air at low tide and sediment when submerged. Umpqua Triangle Oysters never come in contact with the muck at the bottom of the bay, which can give them an unpleasant, pungent taste. Our oyster curtains are continually suspended in clean water, which produces a firmer and sweeter—almost pearlescent—meat.

We sell our oysters wholesale to some of the best restaurants on the Oregon coast and direct to oyster-lovers from all over the country through the retail outlet at our processing plant. With the development of nearby Salmon Harbor, which was supported by officials of Douglas County, our business has grown along with the tourism that is filling the gaps left by the logging and fishing industries.

We live just a half-mile from where we work, with spectacular views of the Umpqua Lighthouse and the National Sand Dune Forest. Our children live nearby and, though grown with ventures of their own, still help out during the height of the summer season.

Oysters are grown in coastal zones around the globe, but farming ours in the sweet waters off Oregon has allowed us to live and work where and how we want—who could ask for more?