Rebuilding reefs one oyster at a time

From table to tide

Since 2021, we’ve partnered with restaurants throughout Cape Cod and the South Shore to collect these oyster shells for our restoration projects. With a goal of recycling 100,000 lbs of oyster shell per year by 2028, we’re actively expanding our program further to Boston and the North Shore.

Why recycle oyster shell?

When oysters are born, they float through the water looking for an ideal surface on which to fasten, where they’ll spend the rest of their lives. For these baby oysters, known as ‘spat,’ the shells of other oysters are the perfect place to make their home. This is how oyster reefs naturally grow.

The shells of discarded oysters, known as ‘cultch,’ are an ideal substrate for growing or rebuilding oyster reefs. By diverting the shell from a restaurant’s typical waste stream, we can collect essential material for replenishing oyster habitats while reducing land fill.

What happens to the shell we collect?

We facilitate the collection of shell from restaurants and the public and take it to a designated facility, where the shell ‘cures’ for a year to dry out and kill any harmful bacteria. After the year, we’ll lay the shell near existing oyster reef colonies to promote their growth or combine it with the oysters we’ve grown in our upwellers to start new colonies.

Through our own oyster restoration projects and our partnership with The Nature Conservancy, the oyster shell that we collect does directly back into oyster habitat restoration projects throughout the state.

In some cases, the cured shell, known as cultch, is placed into bags that look like small sandbags. These cultch bags can then be covered with oyster seed and added to a restoration project to encourage further growth.

Partnering with the Nature Conservancy

In 2026, we partnered with the Nature Conservancy to supply recycled oyster shell for reef restoration projects throughout the state. Already, our recycled shell from 2025 is being used in the Hamblin Pond Reef restoration project in Mashpee.

As the Nature Conservancy, Massachusetts Department of Marine Fisheries, and Mass Oyster Project continue to parter on oyster restoration projects, this recycled shell will be a critical component to providing wild oysters a comfortable habitat to grow.

Our shell recycling program