{"id":8213,"date":"2026-09-02T05:07:54","date_gmt":"2026-09-02T05:07:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8213"},"modified":"2026-09-02T05:07:54","modified_gmt":"2026-09-02T05:07:54","slug":"alameda-group-others-working-to-increase-s-f-bays-oyster-population","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8213","title":{"rendered":"Alameda group, others working to increase S.F. bay\u2019s oyster population"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>In the early 1900s when legendary Oakland-bred author Jack London was sailing out to the Oakland Estuary and off the shores of Bay Farm Island to rob oysters from their beds he was, of course, breaking the law. However, he was also taking something that could actually be grown in the then-still-unpolluted San Francisco Bay waters: edible oysters.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8211\">Dolly Parton\u2019s Walk of Fame star vandalized after beloved singer\u2019s death<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Today, London and his motley crew would have to travel to Marin County\u2019s Tomales Bay to steal any oysters that could be served in a restaurant. Simply put, today\u2019s bay waters are too polluted to produce oysters that are safe to eat. Other factors in the decline of bay oysters include over-harvesting, lower salt water levels and runoff from high-pressure water cannon, Gold Rush-era mining operations that brought a buildup of sediment.<\/p>\n<p>To address this decline, the San Francisco-based Wild Oyster Project since 2016 has created environments for oysters to grow in bay waters \u2014 but not for human consumption. Instead, working with Alameda\u2019s REAP Climate Center, the organization\u2019s goal for the habitats they create for the native Olympia oyster is for it to help clean the water \u2014 oysters can filter up to 50 gallons of water daily, create habitat for local fish and crabs and help restore marshes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn order to restore this natural pollution sink of the bay, we\u2019re needing to restore the wild oyster population of, in particular native oysters,\u201d says Giulio Salerno, the Wild Oyster Project\u2019s executive director.<\/p>\n<p>Those native oysters are the Olympia. Due to strict regulations specific to the Bay Area, Salerno says the Olympia is the only species \u201cyou can even think about restoring in the bay. All the other ones would be considered invasive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While these restrictions apply to non-native oyster species in the bay, they don\u2019t apply to the method being used help cultivate the Olympia \u2014 the introduction of oyster shells that baby Olympia oysters cling to. Those can be from Miyagi, Kumamotos, Bluepoints or any other kind of oyster.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s because \u201cthe shells are all the same in terms of what they\u2019re made of, which is calcium carbonate,\u201d says Salerno. \u201cThat\u2019s why we\u2019re able to recycle the shells of all the oysters as sort of a seed for a reef for any oyster because it\u2019s more about the chemistry of it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Research has found that baby oysters prefer growing on the calcium carbonate of other oyster shells, he says. The Wild Oyster Project gets its oyster shells from where just about everyone else does \u2014 Bay Area restaurants that serve oysters.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Through their \u201cSave Your Shucks\u201d program, the Wild Oyster Project sends out volunteer \u201cshell runners\u201d who gather about two 20-pound buckets full of oyster shells from five restaurants in San Francisco and five in the East Bay once a week. Each bucket holds about 700 shells.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8209\">SF Giants erase six-run deficit, still lose in walk-off fashion to Pirates<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The collection of the shells is just the beginning of the process. After being unloaded at Alameda\u2019s REAP Climate Center (reapcenter.org), an organization billed as devoted to increasing \u201caccess to climate change mitigation by providing ecological experiences and climate job pathways,\u201d the shells still have oyster residue on them.<\/p>\n<p>This is where the \u201cchicken lounge\u201d part of the process comes in. At the lounge, located on the REAP (Regeneration, Education, Aquaculture and Permaculture) campus, chickens peck away at what were once perhaps Oysters Rockefeller, cleaning them to the bone. Individuals can also donate their shells as long as they\u2019re frozen.<\/p>\n<p>After being pecked at, the shells are taken to sites \u2014 usually on top of shipping containers like one at Alameda\u2019s Historical Radio Society site \u2014 where they \u201csolar-cure\u201d in the sun for two years to remove any harmful bacteria or pathogens. The organization\u2019s other collection and cleaning station is near Heron\u2019s Head park in San Francisco\u2019s Bayview district.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Afterward, some of the shells end up in the bay covering large \u201cwiffle balls\u201d that attract baby oysters. Another way oyster shells are being used to attract baby oysters is being done at San Francisco\u2019s Embarcadero waterfront, where they\u2019re placed on textured tiles armoring the sea wall. The cured shells from the REAP Climate Center are used to help shore up reefs throughout the bay.<\/p>\n<p>Alex Maciel, the Wild Oyster Project\u2019s shell recycling program manager, says the organization is always looking for volunteers but that everyone can help the ecology of the bay by doing one simple thing: eating locally grown oysters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s really important to eat local oysters, especially from Tomales Bay, because oyster farms are the most sustainable fishery. They actually give back to the surrounding water they\u2019re in,\u201d says Maciel.<\/p>\n<p>For more information on the restaurants that participate in \u201cSave Your Shucks\u201d or volunteering for the Wild Oyster Project at Alameda\u2019s REAP Climate Center, visit wildoysters.org.<\/p>\n<p><em>Paul Kilduff is a San Francisco-based writer who also draws cartoons. He can be reached at\u00a0pkilduff350@gmail.com.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8207\">Restaurant deals: $25 Santana Row lunches for September<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The organizations collect and process the mollusks&#8217; shells from area eateries to create habitat for the native Olympia species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8212,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Alameda group, others working to increase S.F. bay\u2019s oyster population - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=8213\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alameda group, others working to increase S.F. bay\u2019s oyster population - 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