Georgia's oyster season reopened at 6 a.m. on Thursday, October 8, 2026, a full week after the usual October 1 date. Coastal water stayed warm through September, and the state held the closure open to give temperatures time to fall. As of this Thursday the season is two weeks old, and roast season around Richmond Hill is underway.
Richmond Hill sits on the Ogeechee, a short run from Ossabaw and St. Catherines Sounds, and oysters grow in this water. Even so, most oysters for sale near town come from Florida, South Carolina, Louisiana or Virginia. The reason is the shape of the Georgia oyster and an industry that took about half a century to start coming back.
Why the season waited an extra week
The Georgia DNR Coastal Resources Division has closed state waters to oyster harvest every June through September since 2008. This year, September water temperatures along the coast ran above average, so the state extended the closure to let the water cool below its 81-degree Fahrenheit control threshold. The reopening notice said temperatures were forecast to keep falling and drop below that line along the coast.
The threshold is set by a bacterium. Vibrio parahaemolyticus, or Vp, occurs naturally in filter-feeding shellfish and reaches higher concentrations when coastal water is warmer than 81 degrees, according to the DNR recreational shellfish page. Clams can be harvested year-round from approved areas because people usually cook them at high heat, which kills Vp. Oysters often get eaten raw, so the closure applies to them. Dominic Guadagnoli, the division's shellfish fishery manager, said in the October 6 release that the longer closure kept Georgia within the National Shellfish Sanitation Program's requirements.
A warm September pushes back the start of the oyster calendar. In 2026 the push was one week.
Georgia used to can its oysters. Now it roasts them.
In the early 1900s, Georgia led the nation in oyster production, harvesting 8 million pounds of oyster meat a year, mostly for canneries. That's according to DNR's shellfish program history. By the 1940s, overharvesting and falling demand for canned oysters had sent the industry into decline. The last shucking houses on the Georgia coast closed in the 1960s. DNR says Georgia's harvested oysters are now sold mainly in clumps for private roasts.
The clumps come from how wild oysters grow. Larvae settle on adult oysters, which builds the jagged clusters anyone who has worked a roast table knows. A UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant start-up guide describes these wild oysters as long and thin-shelled, hard to shuck, and nothing like the thick, deep-cupped singles grown for half-shell service.
These oysters work well steamed by the bushel and dumped on a plywood table. They don't work on a raw bar. Restaurants that serve oysters one at a time, raw or dressed, have long bought them from other states.
Where the oysters near town come from
You can see the pattern at the two seafood stops closest to Richmond Hill.
Love's Seafood, at 6817 Chief Of Love Road, sits at King's Ferry on Highway 17, right across the Ogeechee in Chatham County. Its posted menu lists oysters Rockefeller made with Apalachicola oysters, a fried oyster dinner, and a seafood platter that includes oysters.
Wood's Seafood, at 711 Hwy 30 in Port Wentworth, sells oysters by the pound, half-bushel, bushel or party pack, at market price. Its clusters come from South Carolina. Its single oysters come from Louisiana, Virginia, Texas and Maryland.
| Where | What's listed | Origin named |
|---|---|---|
| Love's Seafood, King's Ferry | Oysters Rockefeller, fried oysters, platter | Apalachicola for the Rockefeller |
| Wood's Seafood, Port Wentworth | Clusters by the bushel or half-bushel | South Carolina |
| Wood's Seafood, Port Wentworth | Single oysters | Louisiana, Virginia, Texas, Maryland |
| Sorry Charlie's, Savannah | Raw oysters | Savannah Oyster Co., Bull River, Georgia |
The last row in that table is newer than the others, and it depends on Georgia's oyster farms.
The Georgia half-shell oyster dates to 2015
Georgia's first oyster hatchery opened in 2015 at the Shellfish Research Lab on Skidaway Island. It was a joint project of DNR, NOAA, UGA Marine Extension and Sea Grant, the Georgia Department of Agriculture and the Georgia Shellfish Growers Association. The hatchery sets larvae on small pieces of shell called cultch, so each oyster grows on its own and can be sold on the half shell. DNR says Georgia oysters can reach maturity in as little as four months. In 2019 a state law created the commercial framework for shellfish farming, including leases of state intertidal and subtidal bottoms.
The industry is still small. A Coastal Resources Division staff update from spring 2025 reported 21 Master Harvester permits and 140 individual harvester permits issued in 2024. At that point, 5 of 9 subtidal leaseholders had all their state and federal permits and were getting ready to install gear.
The nearest farmed Georgia oysters grow on Bull River near Wilmington Island, not on the Ogeechee. As of September 2026, Savannah Oyster Company was raising three million oysters there from seed, WTOC reported. That fall the company also started supplying Flying Fish Bar and Grill on Wilmington Island, its first restaurant partnership. Assistant farm manager Ashley Workman told the station:
"A local business pair with a local business to offer a local product. It couldn't be any fresher."
In the same WTOC story, Workman explained that because the farm controls how long its oysters spend in and out of the water, it can supply them year-round. The company's website takes 100-count orders, due Monday by 6 p.m. for Thursday pickup or possible delivery. In Savannah, Sorry Charlie's features Savannah Oyster Co. Bull River oysters and lists them at $2 during its Monday through Thursday happy hour.
Tybee Oyster Company farms in the Chatham County Mariculture Zone at the mouth of Bull River. As of October 2025, The Current counted 14 area restaurants serving its "Salt Bomb" oysters. Tybee Oyster's online shop offers Salt Bombs in 25-, 50- and 100-count orders for pickup at 6705 Johnny Mercer Blvd. in Savannah.
The closest Georgia half-shell oysters grow on Bull River near Wilmington Island. The closest Georgia roasting cluster grows in the water around town.
Roast season, the way the Ogeechee does it
Roast oysters are where the local tradition still runs, so the river's big roast fits the season. The Ogeechee Riverkeeper Oyster Roast is Wednesday, October 28, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Love's Seafood. Tickets are $100 per person and include unlimited shuck-your-own steamed oysters, chicken tenders, fried shrimp and sides from Love's, plus tea, water, select beer and wine, and music from Damon & the Sh*tkickers. Mystery Cooler raffle tickets are $25 each or 5 for $100, and the silent auction runs online before and during the event. The night also celebrates the group's second class of Master Naturalists graduating.
The venue has deep roots on the river. Bryan County News reported that the Love family bought 13 acres at King's Ferry in 1949 and that four generations have fished the Ogeechee.
Last winter, the Rotary Club of Richmond Hill held an oyster roast fundraiser on Friday, February 20, 2026, at Richmond Hill City Center, with tickets starting at $150, Bryan County News reported. No 2027 date has been announced yet.
If you'd rather pick your own
You can harvest roast oysters yourself, within limits. DNR's recreational rules say:
- You need a Georgia fishing license and a free Saltwater Information Program (SIP) permit.
- Harvest is allowed only in approved recreational harvest areas.
- Hours run from half an hour before official sunrise to half an hour after official sunset, using handheld tools only.
- Oysters must measure at least 3 inches from hinge to mouth, unless a smaller one can't be removed from a legal-sized oyster without destroying it.
- The limit is 2 bushels of oysters per person per day, with a maximum of 6 bushels per boat.
- You can't sell oysters you harvest recreationally.
Bryan County shares a recreational harvest map with Liberty County. DNR also runs a Recreational Shellfish Harvest Web App that shows your location against approved areas on a phone. DNR asks harvesters to check for season closures and for areas posted as off-limits for restoration before they go out. This is general information, not legal advice, so confirm current rules with DNR's Coastal Resources Division at 912-264-7218 before you head out.
The tag tells you where an oyster grew
To find out where a bushel came from, look at the tag. DNR's reopening notice advises buying in-shell oysters only from licensed dealers, with each sack tagged with the harvest location, dealer name and date. Shellfish should be kept refrigerated or on ice at 45 degrees or colder. The same notice includes the state's guidance on who should not eat raw shellfish and says thorough cooking greatly reduces the risk of illness. The Georgia Department of Agriculture answers questions about licensed dealers at 404-656-3627.
A tag that says South Carolina or Apalachicola on a roast table is normal around here, and Georgia's own oyster history explains why.
If you're hosting a roast this winter and want to know more about the waterfront and marsh-side parts of South Bryan, call or text Paul Armitage for fast, honest answers about where people here live close to the water.
