In tasting wine, terroir is the flavor that is derived from the sense of place. In the oyster vocabulary merroir tells the flavor story that each oyster is intimately influenced by the area of water it lives in and the nutrients it feeds on enhanced by the currents and tides and the rainfall, temperatures and mineral content of the region. Even when oysters are the same species and grown using similar techniques, location can have a big effect on their flavor.
French Hermit oysters are the Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) raised in floating cages south of Deer Island in the Mississippi Sound. The farm benefits by constantly flowing salty and nutrient rich waters.

Chefs describe French Hermit oysters’ merrior as having an elegant deep cupped bottom shell with a flat top. The roly-poly plump meat adheres to each crevasse of the cup filling every void. The flavor is a mixture of sweet butter and a crisp marriage of garden and sea with a delicate cucumber finish. Folks eating French Hermits frequently describe them as the best oyster they have ever eaten in their lives. It is hard not to puff up our chests and take all the credit for growing such a tasty oyster, but it is the location as well as the care they receive. That’s why we call them Uniquely Delicious.

The Mississippi sound is unforgiving. Mike and Anita started French Hermit Oyster Co. as one of the first farms when Mississippi made an off-bottom oyster aquaculture industrial park. Their love of the industry, dedication, and hard work have ensured the farm has endured throughout adverse events resulting from both natural and manmade processes. Mike and Anita were not young chickens, but they stayed young surrounded by their great staff and oyster farming friends.

In early 2024, they looked to retire and were excited to find someone with their same steady flow of interesting oyster devotion, information, history, science, and passion to take over their beloved farm. After working together hand on hand, they now have turned over the operations to Cecelia. Cecelia proved to be a perfect fit for a lifestyle of being on the coast growing beautiful reserve oysters. People tell her often

"Mississippi waters look good on you"

The owner of French Hermit Oyster Co, Cecelia Taylor Cenac‘s family are long term residents of Laurel and Biloxi, Mississippi.  Her father's 30 year Army career and her own career kept her from home, but now is back in Ocean Springs.

Oyster farming helped Cecelia get back on the waters of the Mississippi Sound. You can find her heading to the farm to clean, harvest, and split oysters. She harvests from her boat or in the water at least twice a week.

Cecelia will tell you that her reason for farming oysters off the Mississippi Gulf coast is the joy she receives from watching how fast tiny oysters, called seed, grow and being able to nurture them until they are ready for sharing with people who love to eat oysters.

Cecelia finds oyster farming hard work but rewarding because she knows she is growing something in the wild that helps feed people.

Living shorelines are a green infrastructure technique using native vegetation alone or in combination with low sills to stabilize the shoreline. Living shorelines provide a natural alternative to ‘hard’ shoreline stabilization methods like rip rap or bulkheads, and provide numerous benefits including nutrient pollution remediation, essential fish habitat structure, and buffering of shorelines from waves and storms. Research indicates that living shorelines are more resilient than bulkheads in protecting against the effects of hurricanes.

• Cecelia aims to provide structure and organization for the farm. She manages spreadsheets and tracking apps to document things like seed & gear purchases, oyster growth rates, farm cleaning schedules, and plenty more. Her goal is to be a part of the revitalization of the oyster industry in Mississippi by advancing the practice and concept of oyster aquaculture. As the official Gulf Coast distributor of Intermas oyster bags she participates in many restoration projects. Click < WLOX> to watch.