Contact: Patricia Smith
Date: Jan. 14, 2008
Phone: (252) 726-7021

CEREMONY KICKS OFF JOINT EFFORT FOR OYSTER SHELL RECYCLING

MOREHEAD CITY —State and local government entities, a non-profit fisheries conservation group and a Winterville restaurant have combined forces to boost oyster shell recycling in Pitt County.

Participants will celebrate their joint effort at a ceremony at 11 a.m. Thursday at Wimpie’s Steam Bar and Cajun Café, 206 Main St., Winterville.

The North Carolina Chapter of the Coastal Conservation Association, or CCA-NC, purchased a dump trailer for use in transporting oyster shells, primarily from Wimpie’s to a weigh station and recycling center at the Pitt County Landfill. The trailer will also be available to collect oyster shells from large oyster roasts in the Pitt County area.

Wimpie’s, which produces the highest volume of oyster shells in Pitt County, recently signed up to participate in the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries’ Oyster Shell Recycling Program.

The Oyster Shell Recycling Program will present plaques of appreciation to CCA-NC and to Pitt County Solid Waste and Recycling, both long-time oyster shell recycling supporters.

“The donation of this trailer indicates the true commitment of CCA-NC to improve and enhance our coastal resources,” said CCA-NC Executive Director Stephen Ammons. “Providing a means to increase the volume of shells being recycled back into our state’s waters can only improve our state’s water quality and other marine animal life.”

“This is a great example of how different agencies and interest groups can come together to help rebuild the state’s oyster population,” said DMF Oyster Shell Recycling Coordinator Sabrina Varnam.

The state uses the oyster shells collected through the recycling program to build oyster reefs, which serve a number of purposes in the coastal ecosystem.

Most notably, oyster reefs help produce more oysters. When oysters spawn, the larvae need a hard surface on which to attach and grow. The most productive surface on which they can attach is shell.

Oyster reefs also attract numerous other marine organisms, such as algae, worms and barnacles, which in turn attract fish. Oyster reefs are considered essential fish habitat. 

Additionally, oysters are nature’s water filters, feeding on plankton and organic debris. One oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day.

For more information, contact Varnam at (800) 682-2632 or sabrina.varnam@ncmail.net; Ammons at (919) 781-3474 or Stephen@ccanc.org; or Wimpies’ owner Scott Joyner at (252) 355-4220.