John Maxwell

John Maxwell was a mere seven years when his father tied him to the mast and set him to sorting the freshly dredged oysters as they came up onto the deck. For 160 years, harvesting shellfish and the sea’s bounty from New Jersey’s Mullica River, Great Bay, and the Atlantic coastal waters has been the Maxwell’s family business. Today John and wife Kim and daughter Bridgitte follow that proud tradition. When the winds and tides are right Captain John pilots either of their oyster boats, named after John’s grandfathers: the Capt. Curtis Maxwell or the Capt. Joe Dayton. Often Bridgitte’s aboard to count and sort. The catch is delivered back to the Maxwell Shellfish shop right beside the dock on Nacote Creek which feeds Mullica Bay. Here Kim Maxwell and Bridgitte shell the oysters, clams, crabs, chowders, and other seafood specialties all made by Kim and Bridgette.

The next time you happen to be cruising down the Garden State Parkway, why not veer off at exit 48 and look for the Maxwell Shellfish sign looming over the marsh grasses? Sample a few of the Maxwell family’s Gravelling Point Oysters, and learn how this scrumptious harvest is made sustainable generation after generation.

They are located in Port Republic at Nacote Creek, a tributary of the Mullica River. OUr clams and oysters come from the Mullica River and the Great Bay at the confluence of Atlantic, Burlington and Ocean Counties. VIsit their website http://maxwellshellfish.com or contact bridgette.maxwell@gmail.com.

A Person You Need to Know