4 Oyster Nonprofits To Know

Meet the people and organizations in the oyster world working to create a brighter future with and for oysters

Shell to Shore

Since its founding in 2021, Athens, Georgia-based Shell to Shore has collected more than 375,000 pounds of oyster shells from its Athens, Atlanta, and Savannah restaurant partners. After diners are done, the shells go out back in the nonprofit’s barrels, and when full, Shell to Shore picks them up, keeping the shells out of the landfill and recycling them to build and restore oyster reefs along Georgia’s coast. The Shell to Shore team will soon return the shells to Georgia waters, where they’ll help combat sea-level rise and shoreline erosion as well as create natural habitat for marine life. Erin Wilson, Shell to Shore’s treasurer, encourages oyster lovers to get involved. “If you eat oysters in Georgia restaurants, ask if they recycle their shells, and if they don’t, tell them about us,” she says.

Minorities In Aquaculture

When oyster farmer Imani Black looked around while on the job, one fact stood out. “I didn’t see anyone like me,” she says. In 2020, she founded Maryland-based Minorities in Aquaculture to change that. “I wanted to create a community for me but for others, too,” she says. With internships and other programs focused on workforce development, MIA is establishing an aquaculture talent pipeline, and removing barriers for women, women of color, and other minorities. “I hope MIA provides the network I didn’t have early in my career,” she says, “because we need to support anyone who wants to get into this. Oyster farmers are climate crusaders, so we need more of them.”

ECO

In 2024, Laura and Perry Solomon founded nonprofit ECO (Education, Community, Oysters) in conjunction with Georgia’s Tybee Oyster Company, the farm they run. Laura envisioned it when the farm idea first struck. “With our farm, we’re engaging kids and getting them curious about our coastline, creating good environmental stewards,” she says. ECO works with elementary to high school students, helping teachers use oysters to anchor curricula in science and other subjects and hosting farm field trips. “Kids see that if this tiny animal that looks like a rock can have such a positive impact, then I can make a difference, too,” Laura says.

Oyster South

A shared love of oysters and those growing them inspired Bryan Rackley, co-owner of Kimball House restaurant in Decatur, Georgia, and Dr. Bill Walton, Acuff Professor of Marine Science and Shellfish Aquaculture Program Coordinator at Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences, to found Oyster South in 2016. The duo believed an organization built on their combined hospitality and science/academia knowledge and networks could advance Southern oyster farming by establishing a community. Today, Oyster South accomplishes this mission with its industry-focused symposia, annual oyster-and-barbecue fundraising “party with a purpose” Landlocked, and by spreading Southern oysters’ positives with its recently launched storytelling initiative. “Getting the public educated and excited about Southern farmed oysters is crucial for the industry’s future,” says executive director Beth Walton.

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