Louisiana sees shells as more than just dinner waste

Visitors to Louisiana spent some $16.2 billion last year, up nearly 4% from 2022. New Orleans cuisine is a big draw, including oysters.

That's a lot of shells. But Louisiana restaurants are doing more than just feeding tourists and locals — they're helping in an effort to stem land-loss on the coast.

Oysters are a bedrock delicacy in Louisiana. That famous oysters Rockefeller dish? It was invented in 1889 at Antoine's in New Orleans.

Now, those shellfish — and their shells — are benefiting the area in another way.

"Louisiana is experiencing a land-loss crisis. Over the last 100 years or so we've lost over 2000 square miles of land," Michael Biros, the restoration program director with the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, told The Associated Press.

The Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana says that since 2014, more than 13 million pounds of shells have been used to build reefs at more than a dozen coastal locations.

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Many of the shells come from those famous New Orleans restaurants. The state gives tax credits of one dollar for every 50 pounds recycled.

"We're sort of unlocking people from this doom-and-gloom cycle and showing that there is a way that we can grow, that we can have a future in this landscape," says Biros.

The Coalition says levees in the Mississippi River have interrupted sediment which supports solid ground. Also blamed for Louisiana's land loss are rising sea levels, as well as large swaths of wetlands being wiped out by hurricanes.

Much of the work building shell reefs is done by volunteers. Some started getting involved after Hurricane Katrina, working with AmeriCorps.

"When the volunteers in the communities that we've partner with see tangible fruits of our efforts — in this case an entire oyster reef that's going to protect a culturally significant site for hopefully generations to come — like that's a really big win. And it's important for people to be able to see that because it gives them hope that there's more that we can do," said Morgan Randall, a former AmeriCorps volunteer who's now a senior coordinator of communications with the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana.

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One bonus for Louisiana, which produces about a third of the nation's oysters: The new reefs are creating breeding ground for even more oysters.

"New oysters will grow on old oyster shells. So over time the reef will grow and it can keep up with sea level rise. It can expand. It really is one of the most effective strategies we have for shoreline stabilization," said Biros.

Oysters also help keep the water clean, each filtering up to 50 gallons of water per day.