By By GREG KATSKI
Community Editor
The head of the N.C. Oyster Shell Recycling Program wants the public and businesses in Beaufort County to become more involved in the recycling of shells.
Sabrina Varnam, who runs the program through the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, believes people can be better informed about the program, therefore being more inclined to recycle.
The program has six public recycling sites in the county: GDS trash-collection sites on Cherry Run and Magnolia School roads and in Chocowinity, Pamlico Beach and Yeatesville and the public landfill near Bath.
All shells should be dumped in the yellow trash bins — found at the recycling sites — marked “North Carolina Oyster Shell Recycling.” A tax credit of $1 per bushel is provided to place the shells in those bins. To receive tax credits, individuals must get a receipt from the site.
The recycling program accepts all calcium-based shells, including clam, conch and mussel shells.
The program has seen a steep decline in contributions from Beaufort County in 2009 to date, Varnam said.
Restaurant contributions have totaled 157 bushels to date, down from 346 bushels in 2008. Public and individual contributions have totaled 210 bushels to date, down from 529 bushels last year.
Varnam said the weak economy contributed to the decline in contributions from restaurants.
“Oysters are a delicacy,” she said.
Rick Zablocki, who maintains the recycling site on Magnolia School Road, said, “We need to get the word out so people start saving shells.”
He said that recycling the shells has a direct effect on the area’s waterways.
“The cleaner the oyster water is in the rivers and sounds, the better the fishing and crabbing is,” Zablocki said.
The recycled oyster shells are placed in brackish or salty coastal waters, such as the Pamlico River, to help form oyster reefs, which produce oysters. In turn, these oysters clean the oft-polluted water along the North Carolina coastline by feeding on plankton and waterborne detritus. A single oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day. The oyster reefs also provide a habitat for organisms such as algae, worms, barnacles, crabs, small minnows and fish.
John Chrystal, who mans the program’s site in Pamlico Beach, said the recycled shells are usually shipped to over-fished and polluted waterways.
“It supports the local economy and cleans the water,” he said.
For their work with the recycling program during the past year, Chrystal and Zablocki received plaques from Varnam at a meeting on the state of the program Thursday morning. Blake Price, who oversees the recycling sites in Yeatesville and Chocowinity, and Guy Blackwell, who works the site on Cherry Run Road, also received plaques for their efforts. All four recipients are members of the Pamlico-Tar River Foundation.
During the meeting, the volunteers pitched ideas on how to expand the program in the county, including recycling shells at businesses that aren’t currently participating in the program. They also discussed setting up a recycling site in Belhaven.