Why recycling oyster shells is important + how a $5M grant will help those efforts

Five million dollars. That’s how much extra funding oyster conservation groups here on the Gulf Coast just received from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The money is largely going to efforts to recycle oyster shells. We’ll explain what that is and why it’s so important for our waterways – plus how this bonus funding will bolster those efforts.

How do you recycle an oyster shell?

Oyster shell recycling works a little bit more like composting than recycling. Essentially, baby oysters need the shells of other oysters to grow. And when we scoop up oysters to enjoy a delicious meal, we remove footholds for new oysters to grow in their natural habitat.

It’s not just maintaining a highly profitable oyster economy we’re worried about. Scientists have found that oysters play a vital role in preventing erosion, blocking wave energy from washing the beaches out during storms. Oyster beds are also nurseries of sorts for all sorts of undersea friends like crabs, flounder and shrimp.

So what’s the solution? Well, we don’t have to quit shucking oysters & eating at our faves like Original Oyster House, we just need to get the shells from our plates back into the water.

Enter NOAA, Restore America’s Estuaries and more locally, the Alabama Coastal Foundation (ACF). Since 2016, ACF has been collecting oyster shells from local restaurants to turn your table scraps into thriving ecosystems. They’ve recovered more than 22.6M pounds of oysters.

Here are a few local restaurants in the shell recycling program:

• Wintzell’s, downtown Mobile
• Tacky Jack’s, Gulf Shores
• Half Shell Oyster House, Mobile
• The Grand Hotel in Point Clear

How the $5M will be spent

This NOAA grant, awarded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act, goes to Restore America’s Estuaries, who are parsing it out to five locales like ACF. The Pensacola and Perdido Bays Estuary Program is also working on this project.

“It is an honor to be a part of the Restore America’s Estuaries grant funded through NOAA. This work not only supports local oyster restoration efforts here in Alabama, but across the Gulf of Mexico.”

Mark Berte, Executive Director of the Alabama Coastal Foundation

They’ll be using the money to help establish new oyster reefs by funding the programs that recycle the shells. The project also aims to expand oyster recycling efforts along the Gulf Coast. Partners will also be engaging in community outreach to get folks like you and me to understand why oysters are so important to our waterways, and why we should help them thrive.

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