Skip Bennett

Island Creek Oysters' founder and owner Skip Bennett has spent his entire life in Duxbury (he grew up catching fish and bullfrogs in Island Creek). A passionate clam and mussel harvester, Skip graduated from Merrimack College with a finance degree but quickly realized that he would never feel at home behind a desk. Instead, he went back to the water and tried growing quahog clams in Duxbury Bay. When that didn’t work, he decided to give oysters a try.

Despite some very loud and serious reservations from friends and fellow fishermen, Skip started his search for seed and an education in oyster farming. About the same time, he met Christian Horne, an oyster farmer whose family owned Chance Along Farm in Freeport, Maine. Christian needed a place to grow oysters; Skip needed seed. It quickly became a happy partnership and after many trials and tribulations, they started growing some damn fine oysters. Soon after, friends like Don Merry and Skip's father, Bill Bennett, joined the party.

Skip now oversees the largest producing farm and crew at Island Creek and is the owner of Island Creek, Inc. Despite his many attempts to stay out of an office, he does a great job shifting back and forth between the world of the boots and the land of the suits (don’t worry: he’s still on the water every day). He has two daughters who share his passion for the water and he’s thinking of branching out the farm: he purchased 2 pigs and 6 chickens earlier this spring.