Trey McMillan

Before getting into the oyster industry, Trey McMillan spent 15+ years carving out a successful career as a professional sportfisherman. During that time his fishing career took him up and down the East Coast and throughout Central America and the Caribbean where he brought his signature fishing style (and beard) to billfish tournaments at every stop.

Despite all of the travel, Trey always kept one eye firmly on his hometown of Charleston, SC where he grew up fishing, shrimping, and crabbing in and around Mt. Pleasant’s Old Village. During the holidays in 2015, Trey got the chance to tour an oyster farm in the Chesapeake Bay and the gears started turning. Long story short, the idea stuck and two years later Trey decided it was time for the next phase in his life. Trey founded Lowcountry Oyster Co. in late 2017 and officially started oyster sales in May of 2018.

Trey now serves as the president of The South Carolina Shellfish Growers Association, and is South Carolina’s state rep for the East Coast Shellfish Growers Association. He is also an active board member for the Coalition for Sustainable Aquaculture where he lobbies in DC for the progression of aquaculture practices.

The Lowco farm is located about 34 miles south of Charleston in the ACE Basin Wildlife Refuge. They use a sustainable, floating-cage oyster farming system to raise the oysters from 1mm seed to 3-inch single, select oysters. You can find their briny “Lowcountry Cups” on raw bars throughout the Lowcountry and the southeast all year long thanks to new regulations in South Carolina allowing for Summer oyster sales as of 2018.