Why recycle oyster shells
Oysters naturally grow in reef formation. Baby oysters - called spat - float through the water looking for oyster shells to attach to. Unfortunately, almost no natural oyster beds exist anymore.
That's where recycled shell come sin. We collect the shell from the restaurants, dry it, and age it for at least a year to kill any harmful bacteria. Then we plant the shell in locations across Massachusetts.
We use a mixture of recycled shell and oysters from our upwellers to seed new beds. We place processed shells on the sea bottom in areas with existing oysters colonies to help them grow faster. I some cases, we create our own seeded colonies in tanks using the recycled shells. We then transfer those colonies to estuaries and restoration sites.
Environmental impact of oyster reefs
As oysters accumulate and build up into hard sponge-like reefs, they provide habitat for other marine animals. This includes fish, shrimp, crab, eels, starfish, mussels, and more. The reefs also protect against erosion. They serve as a natural barrier against storm surge, mitigating the effects of climate change.
Some research shows that oyster shells are a natural buffer of ocean acidity. The main component of oyster shells is calcium carbonate, the same stuff in consumer acid neutralizers Tums and Rolaids. Ocean acidification is a growing problem affecting shellfish. Recent studies say that the presence of shell may improve the growth of steamer clams.