Jim worked for The Blue Point Oyster Co. in the late 60's through the late 1980's. With the closure of Blue Point Oyster Co., he forged his own path in the business and started Aeros Cultured Oyster Company with Karen Rivera and began growing his own product in the Mystic River in 1994. When working or enjoying time off, you can probably find Jim on the water. 

Karen Rivera graduated from Southampton College in 1981 with a degree in Marine Science. Karen is president of Aeros Cultured Oyster Company, Inc., a company she and her business partner, Jim Markow began in 1994 as a hatchery in the basement of his house. She moved the hatchery to Shellfisher Preserve, a Peconic Land Trust property, in Southold in 2004 after setting up the Noank Cooperative hatchery in Noank, CT. She is a founding member of the Noank Aquaculture Cooperative (2000), East End Marine Farmers Association (2001) and the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association (2002). She is the current president of the Long Island Farm Bureau.

THE CREW

We are thrilled to have Captain Marc as a member of the team. Marc was born and raised in Augusta, Georgia, where he developed a love for the outdoors. He joined the United States Coast Guard and served 11 years of active duty, with posts from Newfoundland to Florida. Marc moved to Niantic after being stationed in New London and as fate would have it became neighbors with Jim. Captain Harrell decided to try his hand at oyster farming alongside Jim and the crew full time whilst still serving in the Coast Guard Reserves. When not working, Marc is almost certainly on the water with his son Jacob and dog Charlie.   

Danielle manages, operates and sustains our hatchery here in Noank. She grew up in Ledyard, CT and started here shortly after high school as an intern. She started with a couple of fish tanks and has excelled in making the Noank hatchery a state of the art facility. Danielle holds a Bachelors of Science from Jacksonville University. Outside of the hatchery, she is typically found hiking, diving, or studying! (She is working on her Masters at UCONN Avery Point)