Prestige Oyster's has become the first MSC-certified oyster fishery in the American continent. Thereby, this new certification allows the company products to carry the MSC blue fish label.
Firstly, in 2008, Hurricane Ike blasted through coastal communities of Texas and Louisiana, causing devastation on land and in the ocean. As a result of this, oyster spat could not attach to a too soft ocean bottom. So, they decided to deposit 20.000 pounds of clutch onto one of its private oyster beds. Consequently, the oyster spats were able to attach and grow into viable oysters for consumption.
The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) is an international nonprofit which protects the ocean and safeguards seafood supplies for the future. For over 20 years, the MSC has worked with fisheries, scientists, seafood companies, and healthy ocean advocates.
Prestige Oyster's is a private family-run business. A very unusual situation as 95% of oysters consumed in restaurants in the U.S. is farm-raised. In the summer of 2010, the company installed the Quintus 350L high-pressure processing machine and Cryo-Quick tunnel to process oysters.
Finally, in 2013, they acquired Joeys Oyster Company's state of the art facility with HPP technology in Amite, Louisiana. The company has now two full time processing plants and provides market for over 100 boats stretching from Texas and Louisiana up to Maryland.