Top 10 Oyster Shell Recycling Contributors in 2015!
The Oyster Recovery Partnership's Shell Recycling Alliance (SRA) collected a record 26,000 bushels of oyster shell from 300 member establishments in 2015, a number that reflects an accelerated commitment by restaurants and other businesses to restore the Chesapeake Bay oyster population.
And the top producers are...
Boatyard Bar & Grill (Annapolis, MD)
Captain White's Seafood City (Washington DC) Congressional Seafood Company, Inc. (Jessup, MD) Faidleys Seafood At Lexington Market -Baltimore (Baltimore, MD) Jessie Taylor Seafood (Washington DC) Mike's Bar & Crab House (Annapolis, MD) Old Ebbitt Grilll (Washington DC) Rappahannock River Oysters, LLC (Washington DC) Ryleigh's Oyster Federal Hill (Baltimore, MD) Ryleigh's Oyster Hunt Valley (Hunt Valley, MD)
ORP’s Shell Recycling Alliance (SRA) was created in 2009 with volunteers from the oyster shucking community who cared deeply about the Bay. When the program launched in 2010, 22 restaurants signed on as members. Six year later, the SRA is now 300 members strong, and the largest shell recycling network in the country.
Natural oyster shell is the best material on which to raise oysters and restore reefs, however it’s an extremely limited natural resource. ORP developed the SRA to enable the public, restaurants and caterers to save used shell from going into landfills. Oyster shell collected is aged, washed and used by the UMCES Horn Point Laboratory Oyster Hatchery for its oyster setting process. Every half shell will create a new home for approximately 10 baby oysters (called spat.) ORP plants the recycled shell, with baby oysters attached, on reefs in the Chesapeake Bay where they will grow and flourish.
Since its launch, the SRA has recycled 78,705 bushels (2,755 tons) of shell. In addition to restaurants and businesses, used shell is collected from public drop sites in 11 counties. Within the past year the State of Maryland passed legislation that increased the tax credit to from $1 to $5 for every bushel of shell recycled by business and individuals. For more information, visit: www.shellrecycling.org.