New Truck Expands Oyster Recycling Efforts as Sink Your Shucks™ Teams Up on Major Gulf Restoration Project with TPWD
The pioneering Sink Your Shucks™ oyster recycling program has blazed a trail for community involvement in restoring oyster reefs along the Texas coast for more than 15 years. As 2025 begins, the program will be part of a groundbreaking multi-year collaborative project along the Gulf.
The Harte Research Institute (HRI) Coastal Conservation and Restoration lab will play a key role in a four-year project with the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) and multiple partners that will help revitalize oyster habitats and support sustainable fisheries in the Mission-Aransas Estuary on the middle Texas Gulf coast.
The project was awarded $8.2 million in late 2024 and is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Office of Habitat Conservation as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. Along with TPWD and HRI, The Coastal Bend Bays and Estuaries Program, Mission-Aransas National Estuarine Research Reserve, and The Nature Conservancy are also involved.
The initiative will establish protected oyster broodstock reserves (non-harvestable oyster reefs) and combine reef restoration with strong community involvement, including local anglers, conservation groups, and the public as the initiative aims to restore vital oyster habitats while fostering a community-wide commitment to conservation. The network of reefs could cover as much as 50 acres.
Sink Your Shucks™ will be partially funded for multiple years through this grant, with a portion to be used for purchasing a specialized truck to gather the oyster shells needed for oyster reef restoration. HRI researchers will also play a key role in monitoring the project, including studying ecosystem impacts, tracking reef development, and providing critical data to guide future conservation efforts.
Dr. Jennifer Pollack, the Larry D. McKinney Endowed Chair for Coastal Conservation and Restoration at HRI and co-founder of the Sink Your Shucks™ program, explained the transformative potential of this restoration approach.
“By restoring oyster reefs in multiple strategic locations within the Mission-Aransas Estuary, we can enhance the resilience of oyster populations,” Pollack said. “Establishing reefs in up-bay areas (or further up the estuary) allows spawning oysters to repopulate downstream locations, while restoring reefs in closed areas supports adjacent fished reefs through spillover benefits. This networked restoration strategy not only bolsters oyster numbers but also strengthens the entire ecosystem.”
Pollack emphasized the pioneering nature of this initiative: “This is incredibly exciting for Texas and represents a novel approach in the United States. It's fantastic that Texas is leading the way in this effort.”
The truck purchased for Sink Your Shucks™ will help the program expand its ability to gather oyster shells from partner restaurants. Currently, the program has a pickup truck with a trailer to carry rolling bins, which sometimes requires several trips to one area to gather the shells. With the new truck, more shells can be collected in one trip, providing an opportunity to expand to more partners.
Since its inception in 2009, the Sink Your Shucks™ program has recycled more than three million pounds of oyster shells and restored more than 45 acres of reef. Currently the program has more than a dozen partners that supply used oyster shells, including many oyster farms.
“This will help us increase capacity to collect shells in different areas,” Pollack said.
The project is one of the largest oyster restoration projects undertaken in Texas to date as TPWD will construct the non-harvestable reefs with large boulders that cannot be fished with dredges.
The restored reefs will enhance ecosystem resilience, support sustainable fisheries, and create a network of larval sources to aid nearby degraded reefs. By fostering connectivity, the project aims to accelerate recovery, boost biodiversity, and strengthen oyster habitats against future environmental challenges.
Local stakeholders, including oyster fishers and recreational anglers, will help guide site selection to balance ecological benefits with user needs, while ongoing community engagement, including Sink Your Shucks™ community restoration events, will ensure transparency and collaboration throughout the restoration process.
This ambitious restoration effort represents a huge step forward in protecting and sustaining Texas’ oyster reefs for future generations. By combining scientific research, strategic restoration, and strong community engagement, the project aims to create a lasting impact on the health of the Mission-Aransas Estuary, and the Texas coast. The lessons learned could help shape the future of oyster restoration efforts across the country.