Normandy is an important oyster farming region that produces more than 25,000 tons of oysters per year and has launched a PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) procedure for its mollusks. Of its four varieties of oysters - the Isigny oyster, the Saint-Vaast oyster, the Côte de Nacre oyster, and the West Coast oyster - the best known is the Isigny oyster raised within the very plankton-rich Baie des Veys. Saint-Vaast oysters come from the oldest oyster basin in the region, located on the east coast of Cotentin. Those from the Côte de Nacre (Mother-of-Pearl Coast) are raised at the Meuvaines-Asnelle oyster farming site created in the early 1990s. As for the oyster beds arranged along the West Coast of Cotentin, they are exposed to strong winds and currents. Normandy production is essentially made up of cupped oysters.