See shells down by the seashore Our Oyster Shell Recycling Program was one of the first of its kind, and at one point it was the largest such program in the country. We have recycled nearly 10 million pounds of shell – partnering with nearly two dozen New Orleans area restaurants to collect shells before returning them to the water to create what are known as living shorelines – oyster reefs that protect the nearby soil from erosion. We have completed two reefs. A third is under construction, and a fourth is in the works. It’s a great program, and it’s one you can support from several different angles. For instance, there are our volunteer events in which people (sometimes groups of them from local companies; these are great team-building exercises!) join us in the field to put cured shell into bags. Our program experienced a snag when the Chinese factory that makes the gabions – large steel cages, essentially – that hold shell in place in the water shut down because of a fast-moving and deadly illness that began sweeping through that country.
That was in January, before COVID-19 was even considered a pandemic. By mid-March, the coronavirus had spread to New Orleans and other parts of the United States and forced us to shut down our office and cancel our volunteer events, and resulted in severe restrictions or complete shutdowns of our restaurant partners. One of the side effects of the public health crisis was that the oyster industry in Louisiana was devastated almost overnight. As a result of the vanishing demand, our Oyster Shell Recycling Program collected no shell in April, May and June. Meanwhile, this spring we partnered with Urban South Brewery in New Orleans to create Shucks Y’all, a Belgian wheat beer that was created to promote and the benefit the Oyster Shell Recycling Program. We had plans to introduce the brew at an event saluting coastal champions and marking the anniversaries of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster and the passage of CWPPRA. With the pandemic, all that had to be put on hold. (You can buy Shucks Y’all beer and support our oyster shell recycling by ordering online from Urban South and picking up curbside.) The coronavirus is still affecting us all, and that crisis is by no means over. Of course, our coastal crisis isn’t over either. But there is some good news. The Chinese factory that makes our gabions is up and running, and we have received the gabions for our Barataria reef. A contractor has assembled and filled the gabions, and soon we’ll be deploying them into the water. Our quarterly report on our Oyster Shell Recycling Program will be available soon, and Urban South still has some Shucks Y’all in supply as of press time. We hope to resume collection of oyster shells from our partner restaurants soon. Look for more on the future of shell recycling in Louisiana in the weeks to come.
