NEW ORLEANS — July 17, 2014 — After being shucked, drowned in Tabasco and slurped by the dozen, the Louisiana oyster shell has finally found a way to return to its natural habitat.
The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (CRCL) has kicked off the state’s first formal oyster shell recycling program by collecting over 19,000 pounds of shells from New Orleans area restaurants during its initial weekend.
Empty shells also have a remarkable use. They are some of the best material to create new beds for raising new oysters and restoring oyster reefs. According to the Oyster Recovery Partnership, each shell can be home to 10 new oysters when recycled and replanted.
The goal of the CRCL Oyster Shell Recycling Program is to reuse oyster shell from participating New Orleans restaurants to restore oyster reefs and shoreline habitat across coastal Louisiana. The program is being made possible by a $1 million philanthropic gift from Shell Oil Company.
The oyster recycling program creates a sustainable foundation that will continue to give back to the New Orleans community for years to come,” said Dwight Johnston, Shell Vice President of Health, Safety and Environment. “Responsible energy development to Shell means balancing our natural environment where we work, and this project allows us to develop new energy resources along the gulf coast while giving back to a state that has given us so much by strengthening and protecting Louisiana’s environment.”
“We are very excited to embark on this program, which will allow local restaurants and their patrons to play a part in helping preserve our coast,” said CRCL Restoration Director, Hilary Collis. “Not only are oysters a great part of our cuisine, oyster reefs are an essential part of our coast. This program will harness a resource that is largely lost to landfills and put it to use restoring our oyster reefs and helping protect our eroding shorelines.”
Al Sunseri, co-owner of New Orleans P & J Oyster Company, the oldest shucking houses in the country, is happy to see Shell Oil team with the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana to retrieve the shells from the city’s oyster bars.
“I’m thrilled to see this program re-established years after Mr. Norbert Melan’s retirement from his trucking business,” said Sunseri. “Prior to his death, Mr. Melan transported fresh oyster shells from the downtown restaurants to oyster farmers for decades. P & J has played a major role by sending our shucked shells back to the estuary for more than 100 years, to be dried and planted by our oystermen partners prior to the spawning seasons. Those of us in the oyster community have just never gotten much credit, and very little compensation for the billions of tons of cultch we’ve replaced in Louisiana waters. Oystermen are the true pioneers when it comes to restoring our coast by giving back to Mother Nature.”
Read the full story at GulfSeafoodNews.com