Oyster Shell Recycling Heals Ailing Bay

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The key to green living and sustainability most often lies with grass roots efforts by dedicated individuals with personal vested interests at stake. A situation such as this gave birth to the Shell Recycling Alliance. This group consists of members of the local oyster shucking community with family legacies of care and commitment to the Chesapeake Bay. They recognized that the tons of oyster shells discarded at events where they shucked could serve a useful purpose, and they got together to do something about it.

Oyster shell is a limited natural resource that provides a habitat for new oysters in the Chesapeake Bay. The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science Horn Point Hatchery uses it for its oyster setting process. This program spawns oysters taken from the wild, creating larvae or spat, which is released into large tanks with cages of oyster shells to set. The newly spawned oysters are fed algae and upon reaching maturity, are returned to the Bay. The Shell Recycling Alliance (SRA) has teamed up with area seafood restaurants throughout Maryland, Virginia, Washington, D.C. and Delaware to save oyster shells, which are collected and delivered to the hatchery to be used for setting to replenish the bay oyster population. To date, the SRA has provided around 75,000 bushels of reclaimed oyster shells to the program.

In addition to being a food attraction, oysters play a major role in the health and survival of the Chesapeake Bay, as the filtering capacity of the entire oyster reef community is vital to the Bay’s water quality. By virtue of its algae consumption, an oyster filters water at a rate of up to approximately two gallons an hour. This filtration clarifies the water, allowing bay grasses to receive more sunlight and become more plentiful. As a result, oxygen levels in the water increase, which in turn, leads to reduced wave energy and shoreline loss. The end product is a healthy habitat for aquatic life.

Thanks to the actions of concerned people committed to the protection of our waters, oyster replenishment programs now operate not only in the Mid-Atlantic States, but also up and down the east coast. A small green movement has led to a large green revolution. A great way to get involved is to support the restaurants that participate in this program. A list of participating businesses can be found at http://www.oysterrecovery.org/Content/ContentDisplay.aspx?ContentID=88. Let’s live green, be green.

Courtesy of aquaviews.net

Green Initiatives Protect the Ocean

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Everyday we hear about the problems of climate change.  Over the past 12 months, we have witnessed the warmest temperatures recorded over a sustained period time and raging wildfires that have destroyed thousands of acres of land and the homes, lives and possessions of so many hard-working citizens.  Our communities are now inundated with garbage and landfills full of discarded electronics and junk that will never decompose.  Increasingly, we are faced with higher taxes and penalties imposed by municipalities to address the problems of aging sewage and water-flow treatment plants no longer able to support the increasing demand on these systems.  Now we have been blindsided by the announcement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that rising acid levels in the ocean pose a major threat to coral reefs.  Dubbed “the osteoporosis of the sea,” this phenomenon threatens everything from “food security to tourism and livelihoods”.  

As the oceans absorb carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, the acidity of the water is increased.  Scientists are concerned about the effect of the higher acidity on sea life, particularly reefs, because the growing acidity negatively impacts the formation of coral skeletons, which ultimately will lead to deterioration of the reefs.  Previously, scientists assumed that the carbon dioxide absorbed by the water would be diluted as the shallow and deeper waters mixed.  Unfortunately, the majority of the carbon dioxide and its subsequent chemical changes have remained in the surface waters.

These higher acidity levels have impacted sea life in a very harsh and sometimes unpredictable manner.  For example, they have posed a major threat to oyster populations because the acid slows the growth of their shells.  Study results also reference the deleterious effect on clown fish and other sea life.  One experiment in particular has shown that the increased acid levels have dulled the sense of smell of some sea life, resulting in these creatures swimming towards predators, as opposed to away from them.  

The reduction of carbon emissions has become a matter of urgency to ensure the viability of both land and sea.  Our waters are a source of food, entertainment and livelihood for our planet’s occupations.  To protect them, let’s live green, be green.