The McIntire Recycling Center became the new home for the collection of oyster shells in the Charlottesville/Albemarle area in 2019. This collection point is open to the public and collects oyster shells from restaurants and homes to be recycled back into the Chesapeake Bay by the Virginia Oyster Shell Recycling and Restoration Program (VOSRP).
The Virginia Oyster Shell Recycling Program (VOSRP) is a public-private and nonprofit collaborative effort whose focus is the restoration of oyster populations in the Chesapeake Bay. The program takes shells destined for the trash and returns them to restoration areas in the Piankatank River. The VOSRP collects from restaurants and public drop-off locations in Charlottesville, Richmond, Williamsburg, Newport News, Hampton, Norfolk, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Northern Virginia and on the Middle Peninsula and Northern Neck of Virginia. The shells are aged in local storage facilities for nearly a year and then placed in seeding tanks. The spat (baby oysters) attach themselves to the shells, which are then returned to the bay. Each shell might contain as many as 10 to 15 spat.
Restoring the oyster population provides for multiple environmental benefits. Oysters filter more than 50 gallons of water per day, processing plankton and sediment that in excess cloud waterways. As oyster reefs expand, they provide habitat for blue crabs, striped bass and red drum and help mitigate storm-induced shoreline erosion. As those reefs decompose, they act like an antacid and help balance the pH in the water. Oyster shells are the preferred substrate for new oysters to attach to help rebuild reefs.
Recent harvest numbers continue to increase with the 2021 landings exceeding 3.4 million pounds and are the result of successful aquaculture and restoration efforts. With proper management, the oyster population can be restored, helping support sustainable coastal economies.
Learn more about this program here:
