One of our volunteers sent in this link to a news story where restaurants are saving their oyster shells for use in restoring oysters to the Chesapeake. Oyster shell provides a medium for the very young free floating oyster spat to latch on to. (One of the ways we check for reproduction is by hanging shell near our oysters to see if we are getting spat settlement.) There is some suspicion that the Chesapeake may be suffering from a lack of this shell medium as spat may not find a place to settle.
MOP is a ways from developing such a program as part of our oyster restoration effots, but with the initiative of Rob, we are beginning to explore this idea with various regulatory authorities. Oyster Shell Recycling Program
The Oyster Project is dedicated to oyster restoration in the estuaries of Massachusetts. Oyster reefs provide shelter for 100 other species including shrimp, eels, lobsters and the young of many commercial species. Oysters also are tremendous water cleaners as each filters 30 gallons of water per day.
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