Diners' discarded oyster shells help establish new colonies, experts say
WASHINGTON (FOX 5 DC) - Across the country, shells discarded by diners are being collected, cleaned and dumped into waterways, where they form the basis of new oyster colonies.
The latest of such projects is taking place in Atlantic City. Initiated in 2019, the program currently includes the Hard Rock casino, the Knife & Fork restaurant and Dock's Oyster House in Atlantic City.
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The shells discarded by diners are then collected by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection once a week. After taking them to a research center on Nacote Creek in Port Republic, the state sets the shells out to dry for at least six months so that any remaining meat or foreign substances on the shells will bake off. Then, workers and volunteers with Rutgers and Stockton universities and the Jetty Rock Foundation load them on barges and dump them into the Mullica River.
According to Shawn LaTourette, the state's environmental commissioner, the waterway is
home to one of the last self-sustaining oyster populations on the Atlantic coast. Clams, oysters and other shells form the basis of new or expanded oyster colonies when free-floating baby oysters, known as spat, attach to the shells and begin to grow on them.
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The process is not only one of ecological restoration, but of environmental conservation, keeping 65 tons of shells out of landfills. It also helps restaurants save on waste disposal costs.
As nature’s filter, a single adult oyster can strain particles and contaminants from 50 gallons of water a day. In addition to improving water quality, oyster colonies are being planted along coastlines as a shore stabilization and storm mitigation strategy — the underwater colonies can serve as speed bumps for destructive waves headed for the shoreline, dissipating some of their energy.
About 3,000 bushels of shells will be placed in the river this year. Russ Babb, a shell fisheries bureau chief with the DEP, hopes to eventually increase that amount to 10,000 bushels a year.