A Geelong project using thousands of leftover oyster shells to create habitats in Port Phillip Bay has won a state-wide award.
The Nature Conservancy teamed with local restaurants and seafood suppliers to divert 350 cubic metres of shells from landfill since April 2016.
The conservancy adapted the Shuck Don’t Chuck program from the US to rebuild Australian shellfish reefs, which were some of the most-threatened habitats in Australia.
A century ago Corio Bay was home to oyster and mussel reefs that supported fish, crabs, sea squirts, snails and sponges.
But years of commercial dredging, pollution, introduced species and disease had destroyed these reefs, according to the conservancy.
The conservancy quarantined and cured the shells for six months before using them in a new oyster and mussel reef habitat.
The Shuck Don’t Chuck project won 2017 Victorian Premier’s Sustainability Awards’ community category.
Nature Conservancy’s Simon Branigan, and Little Creatures’ Alex Smith received the award from Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio last Thursday.
“Congratulations to all of this year’s winners,” the minister said. “Your contributions will have positive long-term effects on our society and our way of life.”
The project created 10 jobs for people with disabilities collecting the shells at hospitality venues in Geelong.
The award follows the conservancy’s efforts to rebuild reefs at Wilson Spit south of Avalon and at a site near St Kilda.
The organisation laid 180 tonnes of limestone rock as foundations at each site before placing thousands of juvenile oysters in March.
The shells from the project had contributed to the Wilson Spit reef, the Nature Conservancy’s Tony Jupp said.
