VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — An oyster recycling program, aimed at protecting and creating thriving shorelines, reached a million-pound milestone earlier this year.
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The Marine Discovery Center’s Shuck & Share oyster recycling program was launched in 2013.
The programs partners will local restaurants to collect discarded shells from diners’ meals to be recycled and used in shoreline restoration projects up and down the Indian River Lagoon.
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The first oyster shells were collected at local restaurants in 2014.
“I vividly remember how nervous I was to call the first restaurant,” said Annie Morgan Roddenberry, who was hired to start the grant-funded oyster recycling program at MDC in 2013.
In the beginning only a handful of restaurants agreed to save and donate oyster shells, now 13 restaurants in Volusia County participate.
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“But many of the restaurant owners and kitchen staff expressed their love of nature, fishing and being on the water and before I knew it, we had 10 restaurants on board,” Roddenberry added. “Everyone was excited to do something meaningful in their community and give back to the lagoon.”
Nine other coastal counties have adopted the Shuck & Share program and are working to use the shells for shoreline restoration programs on Florida’s East Coast, as well as in Sarasota and Tampa Bay.
“This milestone means a lot of things,” said Tess Sailor-Tynes, MDC’s conservation science coordinator. “In addition to being able to divert all of that shell from a landfill, the shell is going into community restoration practices that involve community members, corporations and school groups -- creating a ripple effect of understanding of what we can do to protect and preserve our local habitats.”
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Waste Pro became a partner in the program, committing to pick up shells using specialized equipment from restaurants that donated larger quantities of shell, according to a news release.
Collected shells are deposited and dated for a designated period of quarantine – sitting in a lot for a minimum of six months – a standard set by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – to assure that shells are bacteria-free and ready for use in restoration.
Once the waiting period is over, oyster shells are then used in a variety of techniques, depending on the shoreline, tides and objectives by restoration specialists.
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“The whole point of creating a living shoreline through restoration is we’re mimicking what we see along our native habitats and we’re using these restoration units to repair shorelines that are more degraded,” said Sailor-Tynes.
“Seeing Shuck & Share reach one million pounds of shells recycled is a shining example of how one idea can make a big difference,” Roddenberry said. “That’s one million pounds of shell that is not sitting in our landfill and one million pounds of shell that was touched by hands in our community wanting to make a difference. And that’s one million pounds of shell that’s back in the Indian River Lagoon providing habitat for fish and wildlife.”
To learn more about the Shuck & Share program, CLICK HERE.
“Florida made the right call today in banning intentional balloon releases. Balloons are one of the deadliest forms of plastic pollution for ocean wildlife,” said Oceana Field Campaigns Manager Hunter Miller. “It’s great to see state legislators from both sides of the aisle come together to support a commonsense bill and get it passed. We call on Governor DeSantis to quickly sign this into law.”
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