Dive Brief:

• The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana announced its oyster shell collection program is underway. Shells will be gathered from restaurants in the New Orleans area by contracted recycler Phoenix Recycling, then deposited into coastal waterways in Louisiana. 
• The Oyster Shell Recycling and Reef Restoration Program is touted by the coalition as the first organized program of its kind to recycle shells in the state. Shell Oil Company granted a donation of $1 million to the program. 
• Previously, the shells filled up local landfills. Now the oysters, once returned to the coast, will form new reefs, regenerating and replacing reefs that are lost as time progresses. 

Dive Insight:

In its first weekend in operation, the coalition collected over 19,000 pounds of oyster shells.There is no charge for the collection service offered to restaurants. The group expects to return between 25 to 30 tons of oysters back to into the waterways annually. 

In February 2014, commissioners approved an initiative to recycle oysters in the Chesapeake Bay area in Maryland. Throughout the past 20 years, oyster shells collected in the region accounts for 1,600 acres of new coastal reefs created with 30,000 bushels of shells.