New England

The US Atlantic coast from Maine to Connecticut, historically the heart of American commercial fishing and home to a canning industry that predates the Civil War. The last sardine cannery in Maine closed in 2010 after 135 years of continuous operation, ending a tradition that once employed thousands across Downeast fishing communities. The New Bedford cannery opened by Island Creek Oysters in 2024 represents the first craft conservas operation in the US in nearly a century, continuing a tradition of preservation alongside a new wave of artisan ambition. New England is known for clams, oysters, mussels, surf clams, and lobster from sustainable aquaculture farms across Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Maine. Bar Harbor Foods maintains the region's longest continuous canning heritage.