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Hello and welcome to the October edition of the Penn Cove Shellfish Newsletter! 
Our friends Brian Poor and John Keating
visiting from Portland
The autumn colors and longer shadows of Fall have descended upon us here in the Northwest and our brief summer seems a distant memory. The change in weather is an annual reminder that here at Penn Cove it is also time to gear up for busy holiday season which is just around the corner.
The oysters have wrapped up their spawning season by this time of year, but as you can see on our weekly oyster evaluation, there is still some spawn remaining on a few oysters, but overall, the oyster quality is improving every week. Use the evaluation sheet to pick according to your favorite characteristics all year long. While reviewing the oysters, don't forget that our purged manila clams are ready to go as well!
A handy tool we would like to introduce is the QR Code for the oyster evaluation for your smartphone. This makes the weekly oyster update just a click away.
By scanning with your smartphone, you will have instant access to the current status of all the Penn Cove Oysters.
If you need help setting up this feature drop Keith an email and he will walk you thru the process. |
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Coast Seafood Company News |  As many of you in the industry might have heard, our shellfish partners at Coast Seafoods Company were recently acquired by Pacific Seafoods.
The Pacific Shellfish Group, a subsidiary of the Pacific Seafood Group, will now own and manage the Coast Seafood Quilcene Hatchery of Quilcene Wash., and the oyster and clam farming operations located in Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor, WA and in Humbolt Bay, CA.
The sale was effective Sunday October 2, 2011. The President of Coast Seafoods, John Petrie, will remain to oversee the integration of the merger and to continue to manage and direct the future growth of the company. We welcome our new partners at Pacific Seafoods and we are looking forward to continue growing and creating more opportunities in the future together. |
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Meritage - St. Paul Oyster Festival |
 We had a fantastic time at the Meritage St. Paul 1st annual Oyster Festival earlier this month. Beautiful weather, fun crowd and a well organized event all added up to a great afternoon of fun.
Over 16,000 oysters were enjoyed by the Oyster Festival attendees.
Which is a huge amount even for a city by the sea. Congratulations to owners Russell and Desta Klein for hitting it out of the ballpark.
 
If you ever find yourself visiting the Twin Cities, we would highly recommend enjoying a fantastic meal and experience at The Meritage-St Paul. |
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Penn Cove Mussels |  At the present time, Penn Cove Shellfish grows and harvests approximately two million pounds of mussels per year from our two farms located in Penn Cove and the other the other in Quilcene Bay, Washington. In a vertically integrated fashion, we control production of our products from seed collection or production at our hatcheries and follow it through from planting, grow out, harvest and distribution. We do not feed or fertilize our shellfish, we only give them a place to grow and thrive.  As a matter of fact, sustainable mussel farming provides habitat and ecosystem services for many species and adds to the overall health of the waters on which we depend. 
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The Athenian Restaurant | 
One of our favorite deliveries in Seattle is to the legendary Athenian Resaurant in Pikes Place Market.
Known by many for being seen in the movie "Sleepless in Seattle", the charming restaurant has beautiful views of Puget Sound as well as great food; including of course mussels, clams, and oysters from Penn Cove Shellfish.
The Athenian was first opened by three Greek brothers in 1909.  Starting out as a bakery and a luncheonette, it was one of the first restaurants in Seattle to be issued a liquor license, for beer, in 1933.
From a bakery to a tavern and then to a restaurant, the Athenian's story is typical of the growth opportunity of our country. Throughout it's history in the Pike Place Market, the Athenian has been the crossroads of people from all over the world and a haven for those who have found their homes and futures in the Great Northwest.
To learn more about this historic and fun restaurant check out the the Athenian website.
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Fun Mussel Video |  | |
Here's a fun video our friend Chef Rober Wiedmaier made in a cooking segemnt on "The Today Show' earlier this year. A great recipe featuring Penn Cove Mussels
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Oyster of the Month
- The Baynes Sound |
We recently added a new Canadian oyster to our roster and the reviews have been very positive . Called the Baynes Sound for the area that it is grown on the eastern shore of Vancouver Island, this beach raised oyster is full of meat and flavor. Averaging around 3 to 3.5 inches, they have a crisp, mildly salty flavor with sweet aftertaste. Grown in the heart of the B.C. oyster farm country, they will be be a great addition to your pallet of oyster flavors. |
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Where is Penn Cove? | |
Penn Cove is in Washington state located 2 hours north of Seattle or 2 hours south of Vancouver on scenic Whidbey Island. Our office is just north of the town of Coupeville.
Our initial farm site was chosen due to its unique hydrological and geographic features which make
Penn Cove the most prolific mussel growing area on the West Coast.
Shellfish due well here due to our close proximity to the Cascade Mountains and the shape of Penn Cove which captures the minerals carried along in the mountain river waters. When this mineral rich water is warmed by the sunshine provided by the rain shadow effect of the Olympic Mountains, Penn Cove turns into a bay of plankton soup to feed and grow our mussels and other shellfish. |
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