June 4, 2021 — Environmental groups and oyster farmers have found a silver lining — or a pearl — amid the ravages of the pandemic.
Millions of oysters that went unsold when restaurants closed are finding a new life back in the ocean, where advocates say they’ll help the environment and help coastal communities combat climate change.
Seafood and shellfish demand crashed during the pandemic. By the time restaurants began to reopen, many oysters had grown too big to eat.
But environmental groups quickly recognized a way to use those oysters in coastal communities. The Nature Conservancy and PEW Charitable Trusts announced plans to buy millions of unsold oysters and return them to the ocean as living reefs.
“We were just sitting on top of these huge oysters, just kept getting bigger and bigger by the day, and we, we couldn’t sell them. So they came in with a program, the SOAR program, and bought a lot of oysters from these guys. And it was a real lifesaver,” said Matt Welling, the owner of Lucky 13 Oysters in Long Island, New York.