WHO WE ARE

Kimberly

Islesboro born and raised, Kimberly Grindle grew up with the working waterfront as part of everyday life—spending summers on the docks, sterning on family lobster boats, and developing an early connection to the waters surrounding the island. In high school, a science teacher introduced her to shellfish conservation through clam-seeding with the Islesboro Shellfish Committee, where she now serves as Chair.

After attending the University of Maine, Kimberly returned home to raise her family, help build a plumbing business, and develop a career spanning communications, consulting, nonprofit work, and healthcare recruiting. But the pull of the water never went away.

In 2019, she founded Islesboro Oyster Co., turning a longtime dream into a family-run aquaculture business rooted in the island and waters that raised her. What began with oysters has grown to include kelp and other emerging aquaculture species, value-added products, and on-the-water experiences that connect people directly with Maine's working waterfront.

Today, Kimberly is focused on growing a business that reflects both where she comes from and where Maine's working waterfront is headed—rooted in tradition, willing to try something new, and distinctly Islesboro.

<Photo by Amy Welch-Olson>

Anna [Blake’s older twin by 1 minute]

Anna recently graduated from SUNY Cobleskill, where she studied agriculture and livestock management with a concentration in beef cattle,, and will attend the University of Maine this fall to continue her education in Sustainable Agriculture. A true island kid alongside her twin brother, Blake, she’s grown up in, on, and around the water.

Conservation and curiosity have always driven Anna. She’s happiest along the shore—beachcombing, observing marine life, collecting whelk egg cases and “mermaid purses,” hunting for shark teeth, and finding opportunities to remind Blake that she’s the older twin.

On the water, Anna works alongside her family on Islesboro Oyster Co.’s aquaculture sites and holds a student lobster license. On land, she co-manages our sister farm, Grazy Acres, where she raises and shows dairy goats and is helping grow the farm’s micro-dairy and agricultural operations.

With experience on both the land and the water, Anna is building on the farming life she grew up in while helping shape what comes next for our family businesses.

Blake

Blake is finishing his final semester at Central Maine Community College (CMCC) this fall, where he studies Plumbing & Heating. He first stepped onto his father’s lobster boat at just ten months old and has been on the water ever since—rigging and hauling gear each summer alongside his dad, grandfather, and a long line of Islesboro lobstermen.

After several seasons working as a sternman, Blake earned his commercial lobster license—a huge accomplishment and the continuation of a family tradition on the water. He’s also heavily involved in Maine’s lobster boat racing community, carrying his love of working boats and the water well beyond the fishing season.

On the oyster farm, Blake is the muscle, helping with everything from hauling and flipping cages to working our aquaculture sites.

Beyond the farm, Blake volunteers alongside his siblings with the Islesboro Shellfish Committee, helping collect clam spat to support local clam populations, and serves on the Islesboro Fire Department.

Whether he’s plumbing, lobstering, racing boats, farming oysters, or lending a hand somewhere on the island, Blake is firmly rooted in Islesboro’s working-waterfront traditions.

Gaby

Gaby is the wild child of the crew—the one who brings the fun, the humor, and the “let’s do this” attitude. She was the push her mom needed to dive into oyster farming, and she still leads the charge when it comes to trying new foods, tracking down oyster festivals, or finding sushi joints with “all you can eat” on the menu.

She’s grown up on the bay, started lobstering with a student license in 2021, and now proudly holds her commercial lobster license and runs her own lobster boat, F/V Ida Mae. On the farm, she keeps things lively while helping on our aquaculture sites and has been growing kelp since she was just 13.

This fall, Gaby heads to Maine Maritime Academy, where she’ll study Marine Transportation Operations and work toward earning her Captain’s License—a pretty fitting next step for someone who has spent most of her life on the water.

Whether she’s hauling traps aboard Ida Mae, growing kelp, working oysters, or heading off on her next adventure, Gaby brings plenty of personality—and very little hesitation—to whatever she does.