Chris Sherman is CEO of Island Creek Oysters, a Duxbury, MA-based shellfish farm and distributor started in 1992 by Skip Bennett. Island Creek now sells millions of oysters annually direct to hundreds of the nation’s best chefs via their own distribution company, through their industry-leading ecommerce platform, and through their branded outlets including brick-and-mortar retail stores and restaurants. The company is 100% vertically integrated spanning the value chain with operations in Duxbury, Boston, Portland, ME and Brooklyn, NY. As part of fulfilling its mission to grow coastal communities, Island Creek also operates a caviar packing facility and the US’s only tinned fish cannery in the nation’s largest fishing port, New Bedford, MA.


Chris was named a 2018 USA Eisenhower Fellow researching aquaculture investment in Norway, Spain, Western Sahara, and Colombia. For many years he served as president and trustee of the Massachusetts Aquaculture Association, an industry group serving 100+ sustainable shellfish farm operators throughout the Commonwealth and he is a longstanding board member of East Coast Shellfish Growers Association.

He is on the board of Denny Land & Cattle, a California-based rancher and wild rice producer. Chris also serves as a founding board member of the Levitate Foundation, the charitable arm of the eponymous surf brand and music festival creating better access for children to music, art, and the outdoors.

Prior to joining Island Creek, Chris sailed professionally and worked in marketing and management for superyacht design firm, Fontaine Design Group in Newport, RI and Friendship Yachts in Whangarei, New Zealand. He has a B.A. in English from Williams College.