Matthew Gregg

Farm Owner

Forty North Oyster Farms

State: NJ

(w) (760) 685-3786

About

Coming from a background in commercial fishing, Matt Gregg studied Marine and Coastal Policy and Aquaculture and Fisheries Science at the University of Rhode Island. After graduating, Matt founded Forty North Oyster Farms, LLC in 2011 in his home state of New Jersey. Forty North was the first commercial operation to grow oysters out of the historically significant Barnegat Bay since the mid-20th century stock collapse.
In 2016, Matt and another grower saw an opportunity to strengthen the local industry by creating a grower’s collective. Since then, the Barnegat Oyster Collective has handled marketing, safety compliance, and distribution for 14 independent oyster farms. The Collective has sold oysters all over the nation and annually exceeds $1 million in gross revenue. Their primary goal is to empower small sustainable farms and ensure they can achieve economies of scale.
Matt was named the Asbury Park Press Small Business Innovator of the Year, received the Edible Jersey Magazine Farm Hero of the Year Award and has given Congressional Briefings about the impacts that climate change pose for the domestic shellfish industry. He is currently the NJ Aquaculture Association’s Vice President as well as a board member for New Jersey Sea Grant’s Science Advisory Board.
Forty North Oyster Farms grows oysters on 38 acres, primarily for restaurants in the New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania markets. Demand increases in the summer months when patrons visit the Jersey Shore.