Recycled shells with attached oyster larvae being added to a new reef in the Piankatank River
Whether you’re eating oysters fried, roasted or on the half-shell, remember one thing: Don’t chuck that shuck! That’s the motto of the Virginia Oyster Shell Recycling Program, sponsored by the VCU Rice Rivers Center. Thanks to the statewide effort to collect discarded shells, they’ve returned 80 million oysters to the Piankatank River and Chesapeake Bay in the last five years.
From the 1920s to the early 2000s, Virginia’s oyster population experienced a devastating decline, barely surviving myriad threats — from runoff and pollution to disease and overharvesting. In the late 1800s, the annual oyster harvest in the Chesapeake Bay peaked at 17 million bushels. A century later, that number dropped to just 23,000 bushels.
“The industry nearly hit rock bottom in 2003, and then Virginia got its act together,” says Todd Janeski, director of the Virginia Oyster Shell Recycling Program. “Restoration efforts like ours, as well as successful aquafarming and statewide marketing campaigns, have helped Virginia oysters make a comeback. Our pre-COVID harvest was up to about 200,000 bushels.”
Foodies can’t get enough of Virginia oysters, which have become as coveted as Bluepoint and Prince Edward Island varieties.
“Chesapeake Bay is so big and diverse that Virginia actually boasts eight oyster regions that produce eight distinctive flavors, ranging from really briny and salty to sweet, creamy and buttery,” Janeski says.
Virginia’s oysters are safe to eat year-round, thanks to the emergence of aquafarming. “Wild oysters spawn in the summer and put their energy into gamete production, making the meat thin,” Janeski explains, “but [farmed] oysters are sterile. They’re still the same oyster but with an extra pair of chromosomes — like a seedless watermelon.”
This means oyster fans can throw out the old “R” adage, which meant waiting until fall — or months ending in “R” — to eat oysters.
“My favorite time to eat an oyster is actually July,” Janeski says. “You can’t beat an ice-cold oyster on a hot day.”
Volunteers unload bags of recycled shells set with oyster larvae on Gwynn's Island in Virginia's Middle Peninsula.
The increase in Virginia’s oyster population is also good for the economy. Virginia is now the largest oyster producer on the East Coast. Virginia oysters are shipped as far away as China and are now more valuable than scallops and crab.
Long before the first human cracked open a shell, oysters have played a critical role in the ecosystem. These prehistoric bivalves have been around for 15 million years, filtering as many as 50 gallons of water each day. Oyster reefs also protect shorelines from rising sea levels and storms, and in the Chesapeake Bay alone, they provide homes for crab larvae and 31 species of fish including striped bass, spotted sea trout and redfish. “They’re very cool critters,” Janeski says. “They not only build their own homes, they have all these secondary benefits. They’re ecosystem engineers.”
The lifecycle of an oyster is fascinating. They spend the first 30 months of their lives as males before transitioning into females. Once they spawn, the tiny oyster larvae is free-swimming for about two weeks until it attaches to a hard surface.
“Recycled oyster shells are the perfect substrate,” Janeski says. “In the veliger stage, the oyster has a sticky foot that attaches to a shell, and then after just 17 or 18 days, it starts creating its own second shell with calcium carbonate. During that process, it becomes more anchored and is known as spat.”
To ensure a higher success rate, Janeski’s team purchases oyster larvae from a hatchery, then helps facilitate their attachment to recycled shell. After a few weeks, when the oyster is secure and the second shell has formed, volunteers strategically place them into a sanctuary in the Chesapeake Bay. From there, spat take anywhere from 12 to 36 months to develop into adults.
Oyster larvae, aka spat, attached to a recycled shell
While VCU’s oysters are not for consumption, there are plenty of oysters available from harvesters and farmers, who have joined statewide efforts to replace the shellfish at ratios as high as 10-to-1. Janeski says it’s a win-win: The more oysters eaten and enjoyed, the more shells go back to the bay as new homes for future oysters.
“We encourage consumers to drop off their oyster shells at one of our locations, or simply by eating oysters at one of our participating restaurants, you’re helping our restoration efforts,” Janeski says.
Local restaurants participating in the recycling program include Alewife, Birdie’s, Burger Bach Short Pump, Fighting Fish, Lemaire, Longoven, Postbellum, Shagbark, The Boathouse at Rocketts Landing and The Stables at Belmont. For those shucking oysters at home, drop off empty shells in designated containers at Tuckahoe Seafood, The Diamond and Tuckahoe Landfill.
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