Two southern Ocean County seafood restaurants are involved in what some might call a pearl of an idea — to use their recycled oyster shells to restore a reef habitat in Barnegat Bay.

“I am not sure that people understand what a huge role oysters play in keeping all of our waterways healthy, not just the Barnegat Bay. The alternative to recycling the shells is putting them in a dumpster and eventually into landfills, which does not benefit anyone,” said Melanie Magaziner, an owner of The Old Causeway Steak and Oyster House and Mud City Crab House in Manahawkin.

The pilot shell recycling program is an initiative of the American Littoral Society. The Stockton University Marine Science and Environmental Field Station in Galloway Township, Atlantic County, serves as a storage site for the shells until they are placed into the bay.

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