Virginia Oyster Shell Recycling Program

07/28/2026

Before and after! It’s been almost 2.5 years since our friend from Ditch Witch ACE moved the shell pile around. Almost 100,000lbs of shell later, the pile had grown like a beached jellyfish taking over the work area. Now, the shells are piled high and out of the way, ready for shell bagging season. Thanks to friend, Jeff Horton and the Chesapeake Ditch Witch store for the time and loan of machinery. work!

07/14/2026

15,840 lbs of recycled oyster shells dropped at the VCU Rice Rivers Center today! Thanks to our great partners at TFC Recycling for another smooth delivery. Our volunteers collected these shells from area restaurants over the last 6 months. Watch for bagging events coming up in the fall!

06/12/2026

You know how they’ll take your photo on a ride at the fair for some extra $? We do that on our boat rides for nothing! Come work with us next summer and see your smiling face dumping spat-on-shell overboard!

06/10/2026

And that’s a wrap! The beautiful weather helped us move quickly to empty both tanks and complete all research counts this afternoon. We are so thankful for all the wonderful volunteers who came to the island and helped us complete this important restoration/replenishment work. Thanks to VCU School of Engineering for assisting with the research and to the VCU Rice Rivers Center for their support of our program. Thanks to our partners 3 Hands Oyster Company, J&W Seafood - Gourmet Market, and Toadfish for your support. See captions for some additional explanations of what we found today

06/09/2026

Another beautiful weather day for oyster restoration/replenishment with the best volunteers. Thanks to all the Virginia Commonwealth University students and Virginia Master Naturalist Program volunteers who have joined us this week!

3 Hands Oyster Company, J&W Seafood - Gourmet Market, and Toadfish are great partners!

06/08/2026

Our week on Gwynn’s Island off to a great start. Morning shift, afternoon shift, and some of the work in between. It was a day with cool breezes and good cloud cover most of the day.

Thank you 3 Hands Oyster Company, J&W Seafood - Gourmet Market, and Toadfish for sharing space and support.

06/05/2026

We are so excited for next week! Couldn’t resist a peek at some of the shells we’ll be planting. Nice spat growth considering the cooler water temps. There may still be a few volunteer slots if you want to join the fun:
https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050A4BABA72DA31-64129613-2026 #/

05/20/2026

We are getting excited for this year’s “planting” and shell research. Almost 12 million larvae were added to the tanks yesterday and they are protected with new pool covers to help with temperature regulation. Our sign up for the week of June 8 is filling fast. Secure your spot now!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/8050A4BABA72DA31-64129613-2026

05/09/2026

What a day! Under mostly blue skies and gentle breezes, this awesome crew of volunteers moved 500 bags of recycled, dredged, shuck house, and quarry fossil oyster shells into the spat tanks. We also placed some tetrahedrons made by VCU School of Engineering students for spat setting research.

Thanks to our partners J&W Seafood - Gourmet Market and 3 Hands Oyster Company for sharing space with us again this year. Thanks to Toadfish for their support. Thanks to master naturalists from four Virginia Master Naturalist Program chapters and for all our friends who showed up to help today!

Watch for upcoming announcements about larvae setting and spat planting coming soon. Join us in this beautiful spot to help replenish native oysters in Virginia waters!

05/07/2026

We’ve had some last minute cancellations for Saturday’s oyster shell stacking on Gwynn’s Island. See all the details and sign up at

We are preparing for oyster replenishment /restoration and research work this summer and we need your help to set up the tanks on Gwynn's Island, 391 Risby Town Rd., Gwynn, VA 23066 on Saturday, May 9 from 10am-3pm. Volunteers will help unload bags of dry shell from pallets, move the bags, and load....