Massachusetts Oyster Project Launches Expanded Summer 2023 Oyster Shell Recycling Program
After a successful season, the Massachusetts Oyster Project is back for another year of shell recycling on Cape Cod. This year, once again working with the Town of Wellfleet, the recycling program is partnering with 20 restaurants and more to be added during the season. The pick up area has expanded to include Wellfleet, Orleans, Chatham, Eastham, and Provincetown. The team is comprised of ten part-time staff members who collect shells seven days a week.
The program kicked off Memorial Day and will run through Labor Day. Restaurants will divert oyster shells from their regular trash to special containers. Massachusetts Oyster Project staff and volunteers will collect those containers on a regular weekly schedule, dumping them in at an oyster shell collection site managed by the Town of Wellfleet’s Shellfish Department and Transfer Station. Last year, this diverted over 37,000 lbs of oyster shell. After the shells are aged for a year, the town will spread the shells around Wellfleet Harbor to create juvenile oyster habitat.
We are excited for the support of our partner restaurant Winslow’s Tavern which has made it possible for us to have a booth at the 2023 Farmers’ Market in Orleans this season. We are excited to engage with the community and offer education about our programs as well as offer a place for the community to drop off household shells to be recycled. In addition, 11th Hour Racing’s grant program, funded by The Schmidt Family Foundation, supports the Mass Oyster Project shell recycling project as well as educational programs around the benefits of recycling shells.
20 local Cape Cod restaurants signed on for 2023, including:
Wellfleet
Chatham
Orleans
Eastham
Provincetown
Wild oysters grow naturally in clusters and the best surface for baby oysters, called spat, to grow on is other oyster shells. Depositing oyster shells in intertidal areas of Wellfleet Harbor creates a favorable environment on which spat can settle and grow. It can take about three years for a wild oyster to reach the legal harvest size of three inches, and these rows of shell and clusters of growing oysters often take the form of a low profile reef.
Oyster reefs were once the bedrock of the Massachusetts coastline. While growing, each oyster can purify up to 50 gallons of water per day. Reefs also provide homes for other marine species, increasing biodiversity. When reefs grow large enough, they can serve as protective barriers for shorelines. They protect from the powerful waves generated by storms and natural weathering processes.
Oysters also contribute to the Wellfleet economy and culture. In 2019, Wellfleet was first in the state for the value of its oyster landings (wholesale sales), and shellfishing is the biggest year-round industry for the town, representing more than $7.7M in local income and providing jobs for 10 percent of its residents.
“Wellfleet is blessed with significant, consistent, wild natural reproduction of oysters; it’s what makes this place so special,” says Nancy Civetta, Shellfish Constable for the town. “This partnership allows us to capture some of the shell that is harvested here and get it back in the water to provide nursery services to keep our shellfishery growing sustainably into the future. It doesn’t cost us a penny, and the oysters that will grow there will put money in our shellfishermen’s pockets when they’re harvested. In addition, in the age of selectively bred hatchery seed for oyster farms, it is also important for us to keep the wild strain of oysters going in the harbor. We are so grateful for this opportunity!”
The Massachusetts Oyster Project is an all-volunteer non-profit working to strengthen our coastal environment by restoring native shellfish populations to our beaches and coastal estuaries. Through oyster cultivation, shell recycling, education and advocacy we can improve water quality, increase the diversity of sea life and mitigate the effects of climate change.