With its new line of tinned fish products, Island Creek Oyster Company, nationally renowned for oysters, is creating not just a new product line but also a new chapter. Earlier this year the Island Creek Cannery opened, marking the first East Coast cannery in 86 years in New Bedford, Massachusetts, the largest top commercial fishing port in the United States by value.
“We started the Island Creek Cannery with the goal of providing a sustainable and affordable protein source for many, while also building value in American coastal communities by developing new markets for aquaculturists and fishermen,” says CEO Chris Sherman. Additionally, there are the significant environmental benefits of eliminating food waste and reducing carbon footprints by avoiding refrigeration and excessive transportation.
Currently the Tins by Island Creek line contains eight different single origin varieties. The first tin produced in its cannery, the Littleneck Clams with Confit Garlic, Chili, and Olive Oil, is sourced in partnership with Cherrystone Aqua-Farms located on the Virginia Coast. The company imports its seven other varieties in partnership with Conservas Mariscadora in Galicia, Spain, as finished tins. The Mariscadora tins include scallops, octopus, cockles, mussels, and tuna belly.
The choice of traditional European conservas-style products comes from Sherman’s travels. “In Galicia, I learned that not all tinned fish are created equal. Most well-known tins are often an amalgamation of varying products from different sources–some from well managed fisheries, some not.”
The roughly seven cannery staff perform every step by hand: the cooking of the shellfish, seasoning, tin filling, and the actual tinning and steaming. All the tins, both local and imported, are 100 percent traceable, shelf stable, and contain best-by dates on the packaging. Once opened, they can last for two days.
Take a drive out to the company’s working waterfront in Duxbury, Massachusetts, where they farm their oysters from seed, and you can sample the tins year-round. The Raw Bar at Island Creek’s menu lists three of their tinned fish varieties and serves them on a platter with house-made pickles, whipped butter, Dijon mustard, sea salt, and My Little Bakery sourdough bread. The menu also contains a full raw bar including the company’s famous oysters, caviar, snacks, and sandwiches, and even sushi rolls and bowls. According to director of hospitality Jess Cagle, “The Raw Bar is a fully indoor space with a seasonal patio, a cozy wood fire, and beautiful views of the Bay. It’s really kind of lovely . . . at the Winsor House, our full-service restaurant in Duxbury, the chefs have a little bit more fun and play with the tinned products using them in more composed dishes.”
This past summer, Harrison Weinfeld, a tinned-fish advocate and chef, known as The Sardinfluencer, visited the company’s outpost, The Shop, in Portland, Maine, where he found its legendary tin wall stocked with both in-house tins and other classic conservas. During his visit he enjoyed a “seacuterie” board with ICO’s Mussels in Pickled Sauce and Razor Clams in Olive Oil, Garlic, and Chili. However, he raves about the Littleneck Clams with Confit Garlic, Chili, and Olive Oil, “They are the closest comparison I’ve had to something from Spain. I think if you did a side by side, most folks would not be able to tell the difference.”
Both Cagle and Weinfeld encourage consumers to sample the tins at home. Weinfeld suggests creating a wine bar experience at home serving the tins alongside bread and pickles or mixing them into a pasta recipe. After a long day at work, Cagle puts the littleneck clams on a saltine with a little butter and a drizzle of the tin’s olive oil. “You can bring them to a party . . . bring them to a picnic. It’s easy, it’s portable,” says Cagle.
The tins can be directly ordered at shop.islandcreekoysters.com, or purchased at their retail location in Duxbury and at The Shop. The wholesale operation distributes to many area retail locations and restaurants.
While the littleneck clams are an instant favorite, they are just the beginning. “Mussels will be our next product we launch for consumers, and we have a few others in the mix. We hope that we’ll continue to take on interesting shellfish products and increase volume capabilities over the years. And we hope to continue canning East Coast shellfish, particularly from our farm or from our friends in shellfish farming. . . The sky’s the limit. We can produce a lot more volume in the facility we are in and right now scaling production in a durable way is our biggest objective,” says Sherman.
So how does Sherman eat the littleneck clams from the tins? “My family and I spend a lot of time outdoors, so we open the tin, warm it up a bit over a campfire and dunk sourdough into the warm, garlicky sauce. The best.”