Serge Meilleur, of Longueuil, Quebec, right, places an oyster from Eros Oysters on his plate during the third annual Maine Oyster Festival on Saturday in Freeport. Meilleur, who returned to the festival this year for his second time, said he likes “everything” about the bivalves. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

FREEPORT — The state’s best bivalves were on display this weekend at the third annual Maine Oyster Festival in Freeport.

The two-day festival, held in the L.L.Bean parking lots, highlights Maine’s blossoming oyster industry – one that has grown from a handful of operations to include more than 150 farms up and down the coast.

Dozens of farmers shucked and served raw oysters for $3 each at the festival, and hundreds of guests slurped down the shellfish and compared flavor profiles. The oyster-centered event was complete with live sea shanties and local artisans.

Native to Maine, the eastern oyster is known for its brininess and sweet aftertaste – something Kelly Punch from Mere Point Oysters in Brunswick takes pride in.

Lulu, 1, of Scarborough, politely refuses an oyster held by her mother, Sophie Coleman, after taking a quick sip of its contents during the third annual Maine Oyster Festival on Saturday in Freeport. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

“We’ve got about 3,500 floating cages, nothing touches the bottom, so we’re really crisp, clean,” Punch said. “Our bay is so nutrient-rich, and no freshwater influence makes us really salty, (with a) nice, sweet finish because of all the phytoplankton that the oysters are eating, so it’s the ideal area for us to grow oysters.”

The 40-acre family farm in Maquoit Bay is the second-biggest oyster farm by area in Maine. Like many of Maine’s oyster companies, Mere Point is less than a decade old, but the company has succeeded by harnessing foodie trends – even offering farm tours complete with a floating seafood bar.

“The uptick in oyster desires is unreal. It’s hard to keep up with the demand,” Punch said. “We have eight different events just this week alone for raw oysters. So it’s great to see, already, mid-June, we’re crushing it.”

Last year, Maine farmers brought in 4.2 million pounds of oysters, with a value of nearly $11.5 million, according to the Maine Department of Marine Resources.

Bill Gerencer, a part-time worker for Mere Point Oyster Company, shucks an oyster during the third annual Maine Oyster Festival on Saturday in Freeport. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

Though the industry made about $425,000 more last year than the year before, 2023 didn’t see quite the same haul as 2022, which brought in nearly 4.4 million pounds of oysters. And it definitely didn’t beat out 2021’s record-setting season – which saw more than 6 million pounds of oysters sold and earned the industry nearly $13.5 million.

But 2022 was a successful crop nonetheless, marked by “nice, warm weather,” and “not too much rain like last year,” said Colin Brannen from Newcastle’s Heron Island Oyster Company.

Compared to Maine’s $464 million lobster industry, oysters might seem like no big deal, but its farmers believe the shellfish has found a permanent place in the state’s economy and palate.

So much so that Spinney Creek Shellfish almost doesn’t have enough oysters to go around.

“We sold out of our oysters in the fall, so normally we have some left over from the season before that we sell off in the spring, but we ran out, so we’re kind of behind the eight ball a bit – but we’re catching up,” said Adam Augulewicz, the farm’s manager.

Further underscoring the industry’s growth, this is the first season that Spinney Creek will be cultivating 1 million oysters at its Eliot-based aquaculture operation, Augulewicz said.

Adam Augulewicz , farm manager for Spinney Creek Shellfish, places a freshly shucked oyster on a bed of ice Saturda as fellow employee Hanna Howell looks on. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer

“We’re hoping to sell (oysters) right straight through the winter,” Augulewicz said. “This is our first year we’ve done a million, so it’s a lot of learning, and new things and new challenges.”

The farmers will be selling across the state for many more months, with the sweetest oysters yet to come when temperatures drop in the fall.

“We’re hoping that (Maine Oyster Festival) gets us kick-started for the rest of the summer,” Augulewicz said.

Nora McNeice, 3, of Brunswick tastes an oyster for the first time Saturday during the third annual Maine Oyster Festival. Ben McCanna/Staff Photographer