>> In the last century, more
than two thousand square miles
of Louisiana's coastline have
been lost to the sea. Tribal
lands in the state's southeast
are among the most affected.
As our New Orleans communities
correspondent Roby Chavez
reports, one volunteer-led
effort is gaining attention in
the fight against coastal
erosion with an unlikely tool:
Recycled oyster shells.
>> A boat ride through the
marshes of southeastern
Louisiana is a painful reminder
of the state's
quickly-disappearing coastline.
It's a swathe of land that
includes important cultural
sites. Trees anchor tribal
mounds here older than
stonehenge. By some estimates,
the state is losing at least two
mounds per year.
Theresa Dardar is a member of
the pointe-au-chien Indian
tribe. For years she felt
helpless watching parts of the
tribe's sacred land fall in the
water.
To help protect the land from
rapid erosion, the tribe
partnered with the non-profit,
coalition to restore coastal
Louisiana,
and use recycled oyster shells
from local restaurants to build
artificial reefs.
>> "They're helping us to try to
save what we want to save. It
makes you feel so good that
people do care. That they're not
just here to see what's
happening, you know they're here
because they care"
>> The coalition used nearly 400
tons of shells to create oyster
reefs that now cover 800 feet of
coastline near the tribal
mounds.
So far, their project is
working. The coalition's reefs
withstood hurricane Ida in 2021
and slowed shoreline erosion by
as much as 50 percent.
>> "We take a product that used
to get sent to the landfill, but
is very useful in slowing
coastal land loss. And we put it
back into the water where it
belongs."
>> James Karst works with the
coalition. He says the
artificial reefs are designed to
mimic nature, providing coastal
protection for years to come.
"Once these reefs are in place,
tell us what happens to them
just organically?"
>> Life begins to grow on them.
Baby oysters are attracted to
the old oyster shells and they
attach to them and they begin to
grow. And that is why they are
considered to be living
shorelines
to me, it is sort of the
ultimate sustainable seafood
it's really a win-win-win
because oysters also filter the
water. They can help to minimize
storm surge during hurricanes
and tropical storms, and they
slow the rate of erosion by a
significant amount."
>> In one of the largest shell
recycling programs in the
nation, the coalition has so far
built five oyster reefs
protecting 8,000 feet of
disappearing shoreline. In all,
13 million pounds of shells have
been recycled.
Louisiana is the nation's top
oyster producer, and nearly 50
restaurants now participate in
the recycling program that keeps
their oysters out of landfills.
James clesi is the co-owner of
clesi's seafood restaurant and
says signing up for the program
was a no-brainer.
>> We go through a lot of
oysters, I want to say, you
know, thousands and thousands of
pounds
and it's really cool to know
that they're going right back to
the water to help the oyster
lifestyle
it gets really easy just to
order the oysters, cook them,
shuck them, serve them, and not
really know where they came
from. And it gave us an
opportunity for us to learn the
whole lifecycle of the oyster,
how important it is to the
Louisiana coastline and the way
of life for everybody that lives
down there.
>> Back on the water Theresa
Dardar and her husband Donald
know the oyster reefs won't be a
cure all. They're also fighting
to backfill oil and gas
exploration canals that cut into
the marsh.
But for now, it no longer feels
like they are alone in the