Cherrystone Aqua-Farms Earns Best Aquatic Practices Certification

By Linda Cicoira

Cherrystone Aqua-Farms, the largest producer of hard-shelled clams in the country and a major U.S. producer of Eastern oysters, announced this week that it earned the Best Aquaculture Practices certification from the Global Seafood Alliance for its Eastern Shore of Virginia farms.

The certification is a “massive accomplishment” for Cherrystone, said Caitlin Hart, the company’s Vice President of Marketing. “We were already doing the work,” she continued.  “Now we have the certification to prove it.”

“BAP certification reflects the values our company was built on,” said Chad Ballard, the company’s president. “But it didn’t happen overnight. None of this was possible without the dedicated people behind the work, a team that shows up daily with a deep respect and understanding for the waterways we farm and the responsibility we bear for having that privilege. That commitment is what makes milestones like this possible.”

Cherrystone is the first shellfish farm on the East Coast and the first hard clam farm in the U.S. to complete the rigorous certification process. The announcement stated that for a fifth-generation, family-led company, the milestone proves that responsible aquaculture can scale, endure, and still raise the bar; an achievement rooted in history and forward thinking.

“Cherrystone understands that stewardship is an integral part of survival,” Hart said. The company “witnessed firsthand the decline of wild oyster populations throughout the Chesapeake from the 1950s through the 1970s due to disease and overharvesting. That period … reshaped clam and oyster production in the mid-Atlantic, pushing toward farm-raised shellfish and reinforcing a core belief: sustainability isn’t optional if you value longevity.

The certification holds farms to strict standards across environmental responsibility, food safety, traceability, animal welfare, and operational integrity.

   Cherrystone is a subsidiary of Ballard Fish & Oyster Co. LLC, a fifth-generation company headquartered in Cape Charles. Its portfolio includes pasta, littleneck, middleneck, and topneck hard clams, along with a diverse lineup of cultured oyster brands.