Image by Flickr user fotologicImage by 20091001-shells.jpg

Hoping to thwart the loss of ecologically and monetarily important oyster reefs, several groups and organizations have banded together to enable replenishment of the reefs by the restaurants that consume them.

The Nature Conservancy, SC Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Fisher Recycling and the College of Charleston Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) organization have partnered together to offer Charleston-area restaurants the opportunity to be a part of a pilot oyster shell recycling project. 

The project kicks off today, October 1, and is available to all Charleston-area restaurants that serve oysters. Recruitment efforts will focus primarily on restaurants that serve more than 100 bushels per month. Currently, both Pearlz locations, Fleet Landing, Charleston Place, Hank's Seafood, Peninsula Grill and Liberty Taproom have signed on to participate in the recycling project. 

South Carolina was one of the first states in the nation to take part in oyster restoration programs and The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources has been working with area volunteers for the past eight years to recycle shell in a variety of ways; however, a coordinated effort to target restaurants has not been implemented until now. 

Restaurants interested in recycling should contact Chris Fisher at (843) 881-3388 or e-mail chris@fisherrecycling.com

For more facts and figures consider taking a peek at The Charleston City Paper's write-up or the full press release.