ROCKPORT — Forming a firefighting-style human chain, young volunteers passed more than 370 bags of oyster shells from the shore into the shallow water of St. Charles Bay on May 7.
The youngest volunteers, elementary school students, squealed and splashed, weighed down by the shells.
The volunteer effort consisted of students in Rockport-Fulton Independent School District’s Fulton Elementary School junior naturalist program and Rockport-Fulton High School’s maritime program, sixth grade wetlands ambassadors from Flour Bluff Intermediate School and students from the Work Industry Training and Go Green clubs at Corpus Christi Independent School District’s Moody High School.
“We’re here to help the oysters,” Fulton Elementary School fourth grader Kinlee Chesson said.
Though many of the students balked at the idea of eating an oyster — too slimy, several said — they were still well prepared to take part in the Sink Your Shucks oyster shell-bagging and reef-building event.
Oysters “clean the ocean,” said Fulton fifth grader Colton Contreras, who said he does eat fried oysters. They can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day, Fulton third grader Tatum Soza said. It’s called filter-feeding, Fulton third grader Tailyn Clark said.
When oysters are harvested, their shell is removed with them, damaging reefs. Young oysters depend on these shells to attach to and grow, Contreras said.
When shells end up in landfills, oyster reefs can’t regrow and regenerate.
“It’s just a waste,” Fulton fourth grader Presley Daniell said.
The Sink Your Shucks program reclaims oyster shells from restaurants, festivals and seafood wholesalers to rebuild oyster reefs. The shells are shoveled into biodegradable bags and then placed back in the water.
The program is run by Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi’s Harte Research Institute. Volunteers can participate by returning bagged shells to the shallow waters of St. Charles Bay near Goose Island State Park at community bagging events. Over the course of two weekends, as well as during the student event, the program is returning 25 tons of shells to the water.
With shovels and buckets, the students moved quickly, filling 300 biodegradable cotton bags with shells. Moody High School juniors Precious Noland and Abby Guerra shoveled oysters together.
Noland said that she had previously attended a shell bagging event. It’s tiring work at first, she said, but it feels rewarding once you see the product.
The students from Flour Bluff Intermediate School have been excited about the event all week, paraprofessional Jordan Campbell said.
“It’s nice to clean up the world and make it a better place,” Flour Bluff Intermediate School sixth grader Briella Morin said.
About 75 students of all ages participated May 7.
“It’s going to be a tremendous impact in several ways,” Goose Island State Park Superintendent Edwin Quintero said. “It’s going to provide habitat for some of the fish that live in the waters here at Goose Island. It’s also going to provide some beneficial shoreline restoration.”
Anglers who visit the park will be able to enjoy the “pristine” habitat, Quintero said. The impacts will be long-term, and the children who volunteered May 7 will be able to see the results years down the line, he said.
Previously, the Flour Bluff students had learned about oysters during a visit to a hatchery, Flour Bluff sixth grader Gavin Gonterman said. Sixth grader Brock Bridgens was confident that their efforts were going to help the ecosystem.
“It makes me feel like I’m a part of something,” Bridgens said.
Several volunteer events have been held over the years, but the May 7 event was the first aimed specifically at school programs. The program also restores reefs in deep water locations.
“It’s definitely important to get kids, youth, students involved early in conservation and restoration,” Sink Your Shucks program coordinator Stephanie Tierce said. “It helps them understand our local waterways and oysters and the benefits that oysters can bring and why we conserve.”
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This article originally appeared on Corpus Christi Caller Times: Want to know how to build an oyster reef? See how these Coastal Bend students do it
Reporting by Olivia Garrett, Corpus Christi Caller Times / Corpus Christi Caller Times
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