If you’re an oyster aficionado in Alaska or just curious about oysters, there is a new website just for you.

Alaska Sea Grant recently partnered with the Alaska Shellfish Growers Association to produce the Alaska Oyster Voyage, a site that enables people to locate oyster vendors and log the different oysters they’ve sampled from across the Last Frontier.

“We’ve got about 20 oyster farms throughout the state,” said Alaska Sea Grant shellfish mariculture specialist James Crimp, who worked on the project along with Alaska Sea Grant social media specialist Jessica Whitney. “We have more diversity among the flavors and the shapes and sizes of our oysters than maybe any other state, because our oysters range from Kodiak to Katchemak Bay to Prince William Sound and Southeast.” 

Crimp said the initial idea was to create an “Alaska Oyster Trail” similar to those produced by Sea Grants in  Maine and North Carolina, which include interactive guides to oyster farm tours, raw bars and other oyster vendors. Crimp and Whitney collaborated with the Alaska Shellfish Growers Association to develop a version customized for Alaska, which went live in early June.

Local conditions including salinity, temperature and plankton, as well as different growing methods, can have major impacts on oysters’ flavor and other characteristics. With that in mind, Crimp said people are often interested in sampling oysters from different locations. The website includes a map of places to obtain oysters in Alaska either in person or by mail, meaning it can be used to plan outings or travel or to try different varieties at home.

Another principal feature of the site is an oyster tasting log, where people can record information about Alaska oysters they’ve tried, including shell size, meat-to-shell ratio, mouthfeel, primary taste and secondary taste. The latter two categories allow participants to bring out their inner connoisseur: the options for taste include briny, sweet, umami, bright/tangy, fruity, nutty, mineral, smooth, buttery and melon.

“Filling that out encourages you to really savor the oyster tasting experience, instead of just throwing it down the hatch,” Crimp said.

There’s another reason to participate: Any time a user logs an entry and includes a photo, they receive an entry into a monthly drawing for an oyster prize basket. Four winners each month will receive an Alaska Salmon Sisters T-shirt, a shucking knife and a pocket oyster tasting guide by shellfish expert and 2026 Mariculture Conference of Alaska keynote speaker Julie Qiu. The site also invites visitors to sign up for a newsletter from the Alaska Shellfish Growers Association featuring recipes, facts and stories about Alaskan shellfish.

Crimp said the website is designed for both visitors to Alaska and residents. He noted that while oyster popularity is growing among Alaskans, many in the state are still unaware of the high-quality offerings in their own backyard. “People here know about our Alaskan salmon and halibut, and it’s great to share how good the oysters are as well.”

Alaska Sea Grant