Fossilized Oyster shell from Carrabelle helping Oyster reefs in Maryland

Fossilized oyster shell from Carrabelle is being used to help rebuild oyster reefs in Maryland.

Over the next 9 months about 112,500 tons of fossilized shell will be shipped from Gulf Coast Aggregates near Carrabelle to rebuild two Maryland oyster sanctuaries.

The shipments are being funded through an agreement with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and CSX to transport the shell at cost. 

Under the agreement, CSX will transport approximately 50 train cars of fossilized shell to Curtis Bay every 10 to 14 days between now and September, 2014; the shell will then be transported by barge to the Eastern Shore sanctuaries.

In all, more shell will be placed in Maryland waters over the next nine months than in the past decade ─ enough to cover 80 football fields with shell 12 inches deep.”

The shell material cost about $6.3 million dollars; the CSX in-kind transportation is approximately $2.4 million dollars.

Franklin county said they want to make sure that Franklin county truckers are getting work out of the deal by hauling the shell to Telogia, where it is then loaded on a train.

The commission said it would contact Gulf Coast Aggregates to insure local people are being put to work.

Commissioners also expressed concerns about how much longer the fossilized oyster shell would be available.

The local oyster industry doesn’t like to use the fossilized shell because of the amount of lime in it, but commissioners pointed out that it is the only viable source of shell remaining.

Commissioner Smokey Parrish pointed out that if Franklin County’s not careful, the fossilized shell could all be bought up by other states leaving the local industry with nothing to use to rebuild the local oyster bars.

http://www.oysterradio.com e-mail manager@oysterradio.com with comments http://live.oysterradio.com/