If you’ve eaten oysters in New Orleans recently, you’ve probably helped to restore oyster reefs and protect Louisiana’s shoreline habitats from erosion.
The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, in conjunction with The Nature Conservancy, earlier this month completed its first half mile of oyster reef using 1.7 million pounds of oyster shells collected from New Orleans restaurants.
The shells were collected via the Oyster Shell Recycling Program, a program initially funded by Shell to help protect the state’s shoreline.
Started in 2014, the program is now the largest oyster recycling program in the nation, a news release says. More than five million pounds of oyster shells from 26 participating restaurants have been recycled, avoiding Louisiana landfills.
“This has been an amazing journey for us. That so many restaurants were eager to participate in an unproven program was inspiring. Together we collected a mountain of shell. Now, we’ve put it to great use,” says CRCL Executive Director Kimberly Davis Reyher. “1.7 million pounds of shell that was destined for the landfill will instead help to restore our coast and protect our city.”
The reef, the release notes, was constructed in St. Bernard Parish’s Biloxi Marsh, specifically along the shore of Lake Athanasio. The site was selected because it is experiencing particularly high rates of shoreline erosion due to the area’s high wave action.
The reef was constructed through a partnership with TNC and funded by the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, according to the news release.
“Historically, oyster reefs have played an important role in helping to buffer us from storm surge and erosion. We need more natural protection, and this project helps accomplish that in the most natural way: returning the shells to the estuary to perpetuate more oysters, more reefs, and more protection. For our coast, it is recycling at its best,” says Anne Hawes, CPRA’s director of outreach and engagement.
