Seafood connoisseurs consume oysters throughout most of the year across Long Island — often haphazardly discarding the empty shells slurp after slurp.
But local advocates say those shells could go on to serve a greater purpose — one that helps mitigate coastal erosion and provides habitats for marine life in the very municipalities where the oysters are consumed.
Maureen Dunn, director of oyster shell recovery program Half Shells for Habitat, started the program with the Seatuck Environmental Organization in 2018. Seatuck was researching the “demise of shellfish” in the area and determined that the reclamation initiative could offer myriad benefits for marine habitats across Long Island.
Returning oyster shells to the area waters helps decrease acidification, Ms. Dunn said, adding that they serve as a sort of Tums tablet to help balance aquatic pH levels.
Reclaimed oyster shells also become building blocks for reef-like structures that provide a foundation for young oysters to grow and create habitats for juvenile fish, crabs and other marine organisms.
“It turned out to be a win-win kind of a thing, in that there were so many benefits from it,” Ms. Dunn said.
The program launched six years ago in collaboration with Islip and Brookhaven towns before expanding to the East End in 2023. The Peconic Estuary Partnership and Southold Town have helped fund the program through mini grants.
“One of the [Partnership’s] main comprehensive management plan goals was to provide resilient communities,” Ms. Dunn said.
As sea levels continue to rise, erosion and flooding become bigger concerns for residents who live in coastal areas. Oyster reefs offer nature-based, three-dimensional structures that mitigate wave action during storms, which helps prevent erosion and flooding, according to Ms. Dunn.
But recycling the shells is not only beneficial to marine life, wave mitigation and ocean acidity, its also a better alternative to adding them the solid waste stream.
“Still, to this day, a lot of oyster shells are being burned in the trash,” Ms. Dunn said. “And that puts carbon back up into the atmosphere; this is not something that we want.”
Local environmental groups, including South Fork Sea Farmers and the Peconic Baykeeper, collect the discarded oyster shells from restaurants as part of the program. Every year during Long Island Oyster Week, volunteers reach out to encourage restaurants to participate in the collection efforts. Ms. Dunn considers the October event “a great opportunity to call attention to the need for recycled shells.” Additionally, a small portion of the proceeds from Long Island Oyster Week goes to Half Shells for Habitat.
Before the shells can be returned to the water, Ms. Dunn said they have to be cured in the sunlight for up to a year, a process that kills bacteria and removes any remaining oyster tissue. Once cured, the shells are placed in biodegradable mesh bags and dropped in the water to create the artificial reefs by area conservation groups. Constructing the reefs requires approval from town trustees and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.
“As the estuary programs become more involved in natural solutions to our shoreline issues and sea level rise — this is the material that everyone is counting on using,” Ms. Dunn said. “But there really isn’t enough right now to support all of the programs that are being planned.”