The township’s oyster shell recycling program began in 2017. In collaboration with local restaurants, we work to collect post-consumer oyster & clam shells -keeping them out of the landfill, to use in restoration projects in and around LBI. These projects focus on growing the oyster population in the bay and maintaining coastal community resiliency by protecting our shoreline & bay islands. One of those projects being our Clam Cove Restoration project. Scroll below to see updates and participating LBI restaurants!
In December 2023, LBT DPW dropped 10 tons of cured shell from 2022 to the Barnegat Oyster Collective! This contribution of recycled shell is for the NJ COASTAL Project, an initiative dedicated to promoting aquatic habitat on shellfish leases and enhancing water quality throughout the Coastal Bays of New Jersey.
The LBT Field Station acquired a hopper barge from Ocean County to support construction and transport of shells for the Clam Cove restoration project. In November 2025, the barge was essential for installing the oyster castles designed to reduce shoreline erosion and help rebuild lost marshland. It also allowed us to efficiently move large volumes of recycled oyster/clam shell to the site, improving workflow and expanding our capacity to restore habitat. We plan to put more of our shells collected the past few years into the oyster castle array in fall 2026.
We are finding wild oyster sets at our other project site W. Marshelder island in Spray Beach. Our team is working on designs for shoreline stabilization and restoration and have plans on putting the some of our shell at this location once permits are secured.. Stay tuned for more updates.
At the 2023 Commissioner meeting, Kyle Gronostajski and Joe Mangino from the Jetty Rock Foundation presented a check to the Township in support of the shell recycling program and the LBT field station’s programming for Follow the Shell. They also purchased new collection totes for the restaurants to recycle the shell. Commissioner Lattanzi accepted the check on behalf of the town. Thank you to our generous partners.
shell collecting truck!
oyster grow bag!
oyster reef restoration set up
bags of shell placed to protect the marsh
buckets of collected shell!
Current Participating Restaurants
Below are all of the restaurants that have worked with our Oyster Shell Recycling Program. Buckets of oyster & clam shells are collected to use for restoration projects in the bay. Check them out to get some good eats while supporting our project!
Click to go to their websites!
Past Participating Restaurants
