Connecticut harvests 20 million oysters each year. The shellfish is becoming increasingly popular with diners every year, too. But with such a high demand, what’s happening with the supply?
That’s where CORR, or Collective Oyster Recycling and Restoration, comes in. CORR is a nonprofit organization that collects empty oyster and clam shells and puts them back in the water. It’s the only shell recycling organization in Connecticut and one of the only ones in New England.
Tim Macklin and Todd Koehnke are the co-founders.
“Instead of [restaurants and seafood businesses] throwing those shells in the trash, we collect them, recycle them, cure them, and then put them back in Long Island Sound to help restore oyster habitat,” Tim said.
They collect shells year-round from 50 restaurants from Greenwich to Mystic.
“It’s like, why weren’t people doing this for the last hundred years? We’re only two years in, and it was just like that’s too easy. All we have to do is put it back in, and nobody’s doing that? It’s crazy,” Todd said.
It’s a bit more complicated than just throwing shells back in the ocean or rivers, though. They need to cure the shells first. Since they get shells that aren’t always from the Long Island Sound, they need to make sure there aren’t any pathogens or invasive species before the shells are replanted. The curing process takes 6 months.
“We always say it’s the most efficient way to recycle because we don’t actually have to add any energy to dry it, the sun is the thing drying it, the bugs are eating what they do, and we have our own little ecosystem up there,” Todd said.
Then it’s time to recycle the shells, which only happens once a year.
Tim and Todd collaborate with some local shell fishermen to distribute shells to four different locations along the CT coast. Jonathan Waters is one of them. He owns Thimble Island Shellfish in Stony Creek, Connecticut.
“We’re carrying shells to plant the natural beds up in our area in Branford,” Jonathan said.
He’s 73 years old and has been in the shellfish industry for over 40 years.
“I grew up watching the oyster boats when I was a kid. I fell in love with oystering and oysters very early on,” said Jonathan.
Last week, Tim and Todd filled two boats with 17,000 pounds of shells at a marina in Milford. One of those boats was Jonathan’s Double Eagle, built in 1929.
Todd used a bobcat to move shells from a large pile over to a conveyor belt. Tim shoveled any stragglers and made sure all the shells made it onto the boats that were just off the dock. It took three and a half hours.
So, why are they doing this?
“Well, first of all, there’s a waste crisis all over the country and in Connecticut, so we’re pulling waste out of the waste stream,” Tim said. “Number two, there is a good natural oyster population in the Long Island Sound, but we need to do what we can to help build up that population. And then not only are oysters delicious to eat, but they are hugely beneficial for the environment. One adult oyster can filter 50 gallons of water a day.”
“It’s really a win-win on so many levels, and really important to the whole ecosystem,” Jonathan said.
According to a 2020 study by Connecticut’s Sea Grant Office, nearly four out of five Connecticut residents eat shellfish. CORR also says Connecticut is the fifth-largest shellfish-producing state in the country. Their efforts help harvesters meet the growing demand. But they say they’re worried about their future.
“You’re always hoping you can keep going that next year because if you lose a year, I mean they only spawn once a year, and you wanna just keep that critical mass growing of that native bed out there,” Todd said.
They say the state used to fund shellfish habitat restoration every year, but not anymore.
“It would be great if the state could see a value in what we’re doing, and have an annual allotment for it,” Todd said.
For now, they say they rely on grants and fundraising, but even some of their grants are set to expire this year. They say they try to raise money at events, like various oyster festivals throughout the state, but fundraising isn’t the only goal.
“We thought we’d just be recycling shells, but we do a lot of education. When we spend our weekends at events, [people] don’t know how beneficial oysters are, they don’t know you can recycle the shells, so it’s really great educating families, kids, adults,” said Tim.
CORR is an entirely two-person operation. Tim and Todd do all of the hands-on work, from moving shells (Todd spent the entire month of May transporting shells from East Haven to Milford on a trailer), to loading boats, to hand-washing buckets, to handling finances. But they say it’s all worth it.
“It’s a lot of work, but we love it,” Tim said. “We like to say we provide homes for millions of baby oysters.”
They say they want to expand their operation, though. That’s why they didn’t put Connecticut in their name and instead used “collective.” They say they hope to collaborate with other states in New England.
Since they started two years ago, they’ve recycled more than 700,000 pounds of shells. They say they could take on collecting from another 25 restaurants before they max out.
CORR will also attend the 50th Annual Milford Oyster Festival on August 15-16.
