[ti:Scientists Recycle Oyster Shells to Aid Chesapeake Bay] [ar: Bob Doughty.] [al:Agriculture Report] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]This is the VOA Special English [00:02.84]Agriculture Report. [00:04.79]Recycling programs [00:06.93]usually give new life [00:08.48]to materials like paper, [00:10.27]metal, plastic and glass. [00:13.45]But a program in the eastern [00:15.25]United States is recycling [00:17.39]shellfish to help [00:19.04]the Chesapeake Bay. [00:20.83]Oysters are filter feeders [00:23.76]which means they help [00:25.41]clean the water. [00:26.65]At the same time, [00:28.34]generation upon generation [00:31.28]of oysters form reefs. [00:33.27]These structures provide [00:35.62]homes for fish and crabs. [00:38.31]Oysters are a Chesapeake tradition. [00:41.99]And they are good for the bay. [00:44.97]But environmental damage [00:47.46]and too much harvesting [00:49.30]have cut the oyster population [00:51.79]of the Chesapeake. [00:53.19]An organization called [00:55.87]the Oyster Recovery Partnership [00:58.46]started the recycling program [01:01.05]earlier this year. [01:03.14]Baby oysters need to [01:05.44]attach themselves to a shell [01:07.93]or other hard surface [01:10.31]as they grow. [01:11.71]Scientists are using recycled [01:15.34]shells as part of an oyster [01:18.28]reproduction program. [01:19.97]More than fifty restaurants, [01:22.86]seafood dealers [01:24.75]and other businesses [01:26.25]have joined the Oyster [01:28.74]Shell Recycling Alliance. [01:30.98]Two states, Maryland and Virginia, [01:34.71]are also taking part [01:36.55]in the program. [01:38.39]One of the restaurants involved [01:41.24]is in Washington, [01:42.63]near the White House. [01:44.08]Oysters are a specialty [01:46.66]at the Old Ebbitt Grill, [01:48.51]and manager Christian Guidi says [01:51.34]that means lots of shells. [01:53.98]CHRISTIAN GUIDI: "We serve between [01:56.11]fifteen hundred and three thousand [01:57.30]oysters a day, [01:58.10]and that obviously does [02:00.05]create a lot of waste." [02:00.94]But the restaurant no longer [02:02.49]throws away all those shells. [02:04.78]The Oyster Recovery Partnership [02:07.96]takes them away for recycling. [02:10.30]First the shells get washed. [02:13.63]Then they go to the Center [02:16.17]for Environmental Science [02:18.52]at the University of Maryland [02:21.11]for further processing. [02:23.50]The shells are placed in tanks [02:26.14]with hundreds of millions [02:28.62]of oyster larvae. [02:30.27]This way, the baby oysters [02:33.04]can be raised until they have [02:35.29]grown big enough to be moved [02:37.23]to the Chesapeake. [02:39.12]This year, the Oyster [02:41.31]Recovery Partnership helped produce [02:44.10]and plant more than [02:46.64]four hundred fifty million [02:48.78]baby oysters in the bay. [02:51.17]Don Meritt heads [02:53.77]the oyster recovery program [02:55.61]at the University of Maryland. [02:58.00]He says the goal is not just [03:01.58]to increase the oyster population. [03:04.37]DON MERITT: "Our real goal here [03:05.71]is to try to restore healthy oysters [03:07.40]to the Chesapeake Bay so that [03:09.04]we can help restore [03:11.03]a healthy Chesapeake Bay. [03:12.53]Not just a healthy oyster population, [03:14.62]but a healthy bay." [03:15.61]Mr. Meritt says it will take [03:17.80]many years of work [03:19.49]before the Chesapeake Bay [03:21.68]has a good supply of oysters again. [03:24.92]DON MERITT: "We did not get to [03:26.31]this crisis in a few years [03:29.00]and we are not going to [03:30.24]get out of it in a few years. [03:31.24]It is going to take [03:32.23]a concerted effort [03:33.13]over a long period of time." [03:34.27]And that's the VOA Special English [03:38.36]Agriculture Report, [03:39.95]written by Jerilyn Watson [03:42.44]and Elizabeth Lee. [03:44.03]You can find all of our programs [03:46.91]with transcripts and MP3s [03:50.45]at 51voa.com. [03:53.88]I'm Bob Doughty.