SPANISH FORT — The Alabama Coastal Foundation celebrated the 10th anniversary of its Oyster Shell Recycling Program on Friday, Oct. 30, highlighting a decade of efforts to restore oyster reefs, protect coastal ecosystems and support Alabama's seafood industry.

Since its launch in 2016, the program has collected approximately 31.6 million oyster shells from participating restaurants, keeping them from ending up in landfills and instead returning them to Alabama waters to support oyster reef restoration.

Mark Berte, executive director of the Alabama Coastal Foundation, said the program began after a community member suggested the idea during one of the foundation's outreach events.

"We were right here at Five Rivers, August of 2016, to kick off the oyster shell recycling program," Berte said. "We actually got the idea from one of our free outreach events."

The program works with restaurants that serve oysters on the half shell, collecting discarded shells and allowing them to cure before returning them to coastal waters, where new oysters can grow.

Berte said the program has expanded significantly over the past decade through partnerships between restaurants, nonprofit organizations and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

"Our mission is to improve and protect our coastal environment through cooperation, education and participation," Berte said.

Chandra Wright, director of environmental and educational outreach at The Lodge at Gulf State Park, said that recycling oyster shells is essential to maintaining healthy coastal ecosystems.

"Oysters can filter about 50 gallons of water per day. That's one oyster doing that," Wright said. "They're super important for improving our water quality here in our bays and estuaries."

Wright said oysters spend the first three weeks of their lives swimming freely before looking for a hard surface, preferably another oyster shell, where they can attach and grow.

The collected shells are cured for approximately six months before being used in reef restoration projects. As well as improving water quality, oyster reefs help protect shorelines from storm surges and provide habitats for fish, shrimp, crabs and other marine life.

Former Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Commissioner Chris Blankenship, who helped establish the program in 2016, talked about the importance of cooperation between state agencies and the Alabama Coastal Foundation.

Blankenship said Alabama had already invested approximately $3 million in oyster reef restoration when officials recognized that shells discarded by restaurants could be used to support those efforts.

"The one thing that we thought was missing was that all these oysters that were being eaten in our restaurants, the shells were going to the landfill instead of being able to go back in the water and grow more oysters," Blankenship said.

The state provided approximately 10 acres at its marine resources facility in Gulf Shores for storing and curing collected shells. The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation also provided funding to help establish the program.

"Oysters are a huge part of not only the economy in coastal Alabama but the culture here," Blankenship said.

Cecilia Mace, marketing director of the Original Oyster House restaurants, which helped pilot the program, encouraged more restaurants to participate in recycling efforts.

"A decade later, oyster shell recycling has been a proven success," Mace said. "Today, we ask all Alabama restaurants who serve oysters on the half shell to join us in sustaining oyster reefs and the seafood industry that depend on them."

Looking ahead, the Alabama Coastal Foundation hopes to expand the program beyond coastal Alabama into cities including Birmingham, Montgomery, Auburn and Tuscaloosa. Organizers said transportation and logistics remain challenges to expanding shell collection farther inland.

As the program enters its second decade, Blankenship expressed optimism about its continued impact on Alabama's coastal environment.

"We have a good model here, and I think it's going to be very successful moving forward and continuing to recycle those oysters," Blankenship said.