On February 9, 2024, a student from Gulf Shores High School counts the number of oysters in a cluster in the oyster gardens maintained by the Little Lagoon Preservation Society in Gulf Shores, Alabama.
On February 9, 2024, a student from Gulf Shores High School counts the number of oysters in a cluster in the oyster gardens maintained by the Little Lagoon Preservation Society in Gulf Shores, Alabama. These oysters are a product of Mississippian and Alabaman oyster gardens.
At the Original Oyster House in Gulf Shores, Alabama, Jeremy Sullivan is savouring a platter full of mouthwatering mollusks during lunchtime.
He takes a fork to scoop out his oysters and then silently drops them into his mouth, instead of eating them right out of the shell.
The marketing director of the restaurant, Cecilia Mace, is standing close by and is having none of it. She gives Sullivan some pointers on how to improve the encounter.
Mace laughs and adds, “Pick up the shell and suck it out of there.”
Sullivan concurs, and the satisfying slurp that results is worthwhile.
On February 9, 2024, Jeremy Sullivan consumes an oyster in Gulf Shores, Alabama’s Original Oyster House. As part of the Alabama Coastal Foundation’s Oyster Shell Recycling Programme, The Original Oyster House recycles its used oyster shells. (Source: Gulf States Newsroom/Danny McArthur)
Sullivan will place his empty shells in a bin apart from the other restaurant waste after finishing his food. This is due to the fact that they will soon find a second life through the Alabama Coastal Foundation’s (ACF) oyster shell recycling programme, as opposed to ending up in a rubbish heap.
To aid in the reconstruction of Alabama’s shoreline, the programme cleans the shells before discarding them back into the adjacent ocean.
One of the first eateries to test the initiative, according to Mace, was the Original Oyster House. Prior to the program’s 2016 debut, the state purchased oyster shells for millions of dollars. The ACF’s executive director, Mark Berte, stated that the programme took decades to develop and was made possible in part by funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
These oyster shells are like gold, yet most restaurants throw them in the trash or dump them in a landfill, according to Mace.
Gulf Shores, Alabama’s Original Oyster House on February 9, 2024. The Original Oyster House engages in oyster gardening as well as oyster recycling. (Source: Gulf States Newsroom/Danny McArthur)
There is a valid cause for desiring these antique shells. Like many other Gulf South oyster reefs, those in Alabama have suffered greatly as a result of climate change. By putting these shells back in the water, you can encourage additional oysters to grow there and contribute significantly to the ecology. They provide a habitat for fish, crabs, and other wildlife, filter and enhance the water quality, and reduce erosion by naturally shielding the shoreline.
Over 22.6 million shells have been gathered by the ACF since the program’s inception, covering more than 57 acres of land. The recycling programme of the foundation was fashioned after analogous initiatives in other areas, such as New Orleans. It began with eateries in Baldwin and Mobile counties at first, but it has now spread throughout the entire state.
‘Smells like progress’
On February 9, 2024, near Gulf Shores, Alabama, old oyster shells are cured in a field. Before being put back in the sea, the shells need to cure for a minimum of six months. (Source: Gulf States Newsroom/Danny McArthur)
The recycling programme operates simply: eateries place their used shells in receptacles that are kept apart from other waste. After that, a business hired by the state coastal foundation will gather them and transport the shells to a curing location on state land, possibly once or twice a week.
The shells need to be cured before being put back in the sea, so that process can take some time. There are heaps of shells everywhere as you stroll through the oyster fields.
