About Padden Seafood
History
Padden Seafood was founded in 2012 by owner James Padden who grew up on the Hood Canal. In his youth his family would go out to collect oysters for dinner. This and other local outdoor activities were always a fun way to gather food and taught him to respect our environment. Coming from an outdoor oriented and adventurous family he wanted his work to involve similar things. He worked at his parents evergreens company and later started his own. Both companies are still in operation producing Christmas wreaths, garlands, and many other floral products that are shipped around the world. Later he realized he could also own a business that incorporated his love of the saltwater as well as having a business that let him work in the mountains. When first starting the seafood company he soon realized he needed to purchase his own tidelands. A few years later he purchased land on the Hood Canal near where he grew up, where the shellfish were always higher quality than other waterways. He wanted the world to experience the clean taste from those waters. This beach is located on the western shoreline of the Hood Canal below the Olympic mountains near Ayock Point. Although he prefers this area, everyone has their own tastes. For this reason he still sells product with a wide range of taste profiles sourced from small farmers around the Puget Sound with the same passion and love for aquaculture.
James's mom Janet on the left baling wreaths in the early 1980s, with her sister Patty on the right
Goals
Our goals are to provide the best customer service in the industry, to maintain high quality products and a commitment to the environment that we cherish. We farm in a low impact manner by using bottom culture farming methods. This has increased food for other fish on our farm and filtered out pollutants from residential run off, all positives for the environment. We value our customers and try to accommodate without question or extra charges, whether that means doing something that seems impossible or a last minute order change or simply trying to expand their market. The quality of our products supersedes most of the industry and having an owner that has a lifetime of tasting shellfish from all of the waterways in Washington helps him find the best product. We are supplying deep cupped hard shelled oysters, but also maintain sources to supply a wide range of grades and prices for different markets.
If you are looking for a supplier of shellfish and would like to deal with a company based on customer service and high quality products with a commitment to our farming environment then look no further and give us a call. When you have fun doing what you love, a good moral compass, and value your customers its a recipe for success for all of us.
A plate of our oysters barely lasting for a photo