U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine got a first-hand look at Virginia’s burgeoning oyster industry on Friday, visiting the Rappahannock Oyster Company in Topping, and stopping afterward to taste some of the delicacies at the company’s on-site restaurant, Merroir.

Sailing aboard the Virginia Marine Resources Commission’s workboat, the J.B. Baylor, Kaine and other dignitaries stopped at an oyster sanctuary and got a peek at ROC’s commercial aquaculture facility.

Kaine said he had been proud to help foster oyster development when he served as Virginia’s governor, and he’s now happy to continue his support of the industry at the federal level.

Oyster production, which in its heyday was nearly a million bushels annually, hit historic lows beginning in the 1980s, with annual harvests of as little as 20,000 bushels. But the harvest has increased steadily with preservation efforts and is now back up to 320,000 bushels a year, said VMRC oyster restoration specialist Ji...