Oyster Shell Recycling: From Oysters Rockefeller to Oyster Reef Restoration
Have you ever wondered where your food comes from? When you look at your Oysters Rockefeller, you probably think the answer is, obviously, from the sea (or from heaven)..
However, the story of how those delicious mollusks made it onto your plate and what happens to the shells after your dish is cleared is much more complex than initially meets the eye, causing a global impact that’s worth a deep dive.
Thanks to our in-house oyster shell recycling program that integrates shells from Charleston restaurants with SCDNR’s oyster reef restoration program, we have insider knowledge on the impact of eating oysters here at Grit & Grace Studio.
Join us as we take an in-depth look at the good and bad environmental impacts that come from eating oysters, why oyster shell recycling is so important, and the progress worldwide thanks to massive oyster reef restoration projects.
Where do oysters come from?
Wild Harvest Versus Oyster Farms
When you think of where your oysters come from, you probably picture naturally occuring oyster reefs along the coastline.
And some “wild harvest” oysters are harvested from those oyster beds, but did you know you can farm oysters? The Romans first cultured oyster reefs 2,000 years ago, and modern oyster farming has come leaps and bounds since then: 95% of the oysters we eat today are farm-raised.
Unlike other forms of aquaculture, farmed oysters are eco-friendly and possibly even healthier for you. Farmers are able to grow their oysters in areas free of pollutants, unlike their wild cousins, but because oysters are filter feeders, densely populated oyster farms actually improve the water quality without depleting wild seafood stocks or producing harmful waste products. Harvesting wild oysters can deplete existing oyster reefs, and some wild harvest techniques include dredging, which destroys seafloor habitats.
Eating Oysters
Oysters on the Half Shell: From Pub Fare to Delicacy
As you order up your oysters on the half shell in your chic neighborhood raw bar, it’s easy to see why humanity has an eons-long love affair with oysters: they’re healthy, they’re delicious, they’re a delicacy that is forever being creatively reinvented by top chefs.
People have been eating oysters for 164,000 years, according to archaeologists. The oyster industry really hit its stride in the early 19th century, however, when oysters were a common food for the lower classes, and massive oyster reefs still spanned coastlines.
In the year 1880, over 700 million oysters were consumed in London alone, and it’s estimated New Yorkers harvested as much as 160 million pounds of oyster meat between 1880 to 1910. This activity exhausted the seemingly boundless oyster reefs in these oyster hubs, elevating oysters to a delicacy with the foodie status they still claim today.
Today, Americans consume an estimated 2.5 billion oysters per year. Though most of these oysters are farmed instead of wild-harvested oysters, perhaps the most critical part of eating oysters, from an environmental standpoint, is what happens after your plate is cleared.
Oyster Shell Recycling
For the Shell of It
Don’t chuck that shuck! Whether farmed or wild, juvenile oysters (spat) require a hard substrate to attach to in order to complete their growth cycle. Ideally, the spat will latch onto other oyster shells (which is how oysters form reefs); however, there are widespread shell shortages due to improper disposal of oyster shells into landfills.
Fortunately, more and more people have become aware of the importance of oyster shell recycling, and many restaurants, small businesses, government agencies, and non-profit organizations have banded together to close the loop by collecting, quarantining, and then recycling oyster shells back to our coastlines.
To demonstrate the power of what happens when we all join together, consider that in a little more than a year, The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, a non-profit, has collected more than a 4,581 tons of shells from restaurants since 2014.
The Oyster Recovery Partnership, a Chesapeake-Bay centered organization, recycled 36,000 bushels of shells from approximately 340 restaurants, and the One Billion Oyster Project is proud to have recycled 1.5 million pounds of oyster shells to the New York Harbor since 2014. That’s something to shell-ebrate!
Next time you step out for champagne and oysters with your besties, consider supporting seafood restaurants and raw bars that partner with an oyster shell recycling group, or please encourage them to do so.
To learn more about what organizations are helping turn the tide and lead the oyster shell recycling movement, check out the Oyster Recovery Partnership’s interactive map.
Global Oyster Reef Restoration
A Look Into Oyster Reef Restoration Projects Worldwide
You’ve ordered and enjoyed delicious, responsibly farmed oysters from a restaurant that’s partnered with an oyster recycling program, and the empty shells were whisked away - but now what?
What is oyster reef restoration, where is it happening, and most importantly, does it actually make a difference?
Your empty oyster shells will go through a cleaning or quarantining process to avoid introducing any foreign organisms into your local waters since so many oysters are now shipped in from other places, each with their own microbes.
Then, most often, the shells are shoveled into mesh bags to form artificial oyster reefs before being strategically placed along the coastline to attract wild oyster spat, which will attach to the artificial reef and begin populating and drawing in even more oysters.
Oyster reef restoration projects are underway all over the world, especially in coastal areas in the United States, and they’re yielding positive results for wild oyster populations and so much hope for restoring marine habitats and saving our seas.
To highlight a few notable successes, let’s delve into the progress recently made in the Chesapeake Bay and the country of Australia, which retain only 1% of their wild oyster populations, and the DEEP project in Scotland’s Doronch Firth, where the European Flat Oysters became extinct due to overfishing.
Today, extensive oyster reef restoration projects pepper the Chesapeake Bay, including the successful Harris Creek oyster reef restoration project, which measures 350 acres, was seeded with more than 2 billion oysters and was the largest in the world in 2015.
Likewise, Australia is now home to the largest artificial oyster reef system in the Southern Hemisphere, measuring more than 50 acres.
Scientists released more than 80,000 hatchery-reared Australian Flat Oysters onto the reef, and today, researchers are thrilled to see this successful oyster reef restoration project has recruited millions of native oysters.
Finally, despite the complete and total decimation of the local oyster population in the 1900s, the Doronch Firth oyster reintroduction project has achieved a fabulous survival rate - up to 86% in some areas.
Charleston Oyster Shell Recycling and Oyster Reef Restoration
And on a local note, the South Carolina Oyster Recycling and Enhancement program (SCORE) has recycled more than 302,000 bushels of shell back into 109 sites along the South Carolina coast since 2003.
These sites compose 5.7 acres of restored habitat and would not have been possible without the 94,235 hours donated by 42,000 community volunteers.
At Grit & Grace Studio, we are proud to be among these community volunteers. Thanks to our partnership with Charleston area restaurants and SCORE, our hardworking team has recycled more than 5,000 gallons of oyster shells through our in-house program, founded in 2016, and we continue to recycle 10 oyster shells for every oyster product purchased.
Benefits of Oyster Reef Recovery
The Ripple Effects of Successful Oyster Reef Restoration
The success of oyster reef restoration not only helps replenish wild oyster populations, but it also has a ripple effect that is so exciting to see.
Adult oysters can filter up to 50 gallons of water daily. This filtration dramatically improves water quality, reduces sediment, and removes excess nitrogen, which is the cause of harmful algal blooms. In fact, the Harris Creek oyster reef project we mentioned removes an amount of nitrogen equivalent to an estimated 20,000 bags of fertilizer from their local waters each year!
Did you know that oyster reefs also provide rich habitats for other species? A 4-inch square patch of oysters can host more than 1,000 individual invertebrates from a range of different biological groups. Oyster beds also allow marshes to flourish, which provide essential habitat for migratory birds.
Last but not least, oyster reefs protect our shores from flooding and erosion. The shape and density of oyster reefs act as a natural breakwater, absorbing the force of the waves from incoming storms, and studies from the Gulf of Mexico indicate that oyster reefs are capable of reducing the energy of high power waves by as much as 76 to 93 percent.
Save Our Seas
How to Support the Oyster Shell Recycling Movement
You’re fired up to save our seas? Excellent, we are too!
Though the problems we face are significant, there is a multitude of ways you can contribute to replenishing our wild oyster populations and oyster reef restoration projects:
Eat sustainably farmed oysters. Eating oysters is good for you, and oyster farming is good for the planet!
Support restaurants that recycle their oyster shells; restaurants need your support now more than ever.
Spread awareness of the severity of wild oyster reef loss.
Volunteer with local oyster reef restoration projects or your local oyster recycling program.
Donate to oyster-centered non-profit organizations, like the Billion Oyster Project, the Oyster Recovery Partnership, the Dornoch Environmental Enhancement Program, and the Nature Conservancy.
Support small businesses that are committed to oyster reef restoration. There are many wonderful small businesses like Grit & Grace Studio who are answering the call to help save our seas, and, like restaurants, small businesses are anchored in your support during these rough waters.
Grit & Grace Studio committed to oyster reef restoration and oyster shell recycling from day one. We are proud to be the only oyster jewelry dish and oyster gift company with an in-house recycling program, founded in 2016.
To date, we have personally recycled more than 5,000 gallons of oyster shells from Charleston restaurants, thanks to our hard working crew and our trusty truck, Pearl Around Town. We have integrated these oyster shells into the SCDNR SCORE program to safely return them to our Lowcountry shores.
We recycle 10 oyster shells for each oyster necklace, oyster jewelry dish, and oyster candle sold: shop our current collection now!
One Love & Blessings,