Rivanna Solid Waste’s McIntire Recycling Center has collected oyster shells from restaurants and individuals over the past year, and the shells have been drying. Our need is to bag the dried oyster shells so they can be donated to the VCU Rice River Center https://ricerivers.vcu./edu for reseed and release into the Chesapeake Bay to help restore the wild oyster population and improve water quality.
This is an annual project for us, and these shells have been drying for about a year. Once the bagged shells are delivered to the Rice Center, the shells are seeded with larvae in a tank for about two days, and within that time the larvae attach to the shells. They are then taken out into the Chesapeake Bay to grow. Each oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day. During last year’s event, we filled 245 bags with approximately 550 shells per bag. Each shell is 15 oysters once set with larvae. That’s a total of over 2 million oysters returned to the Piankatank River; filtering approximately 100 million gallons of water per day!
This is hard, physical, outdoor work that would require volunteers to be able to lift up to 30 lbs. and not mind getting dirty shoveling and bagging shells. Gloves, safety glasses, any tools/supplies needed will be provided along with water and snacks. It would be great to have 12 volunteers from 9:30am – 1:30pm to complete this annual project. Breaks are encouraged and volunteers can rotate between breaks and bagging. Thank you!
