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Horry County highlights oyster stewardship program, says reef now filters 210 million gallons daily
Summary
The county recognized the Horry County Oyster Stewardship Program; watershed planner Brent Carey described shell collection and curing, partnerships with schools and agencies, and a reef that he said filters 210,000,000 gallons of water per day.
Brent Carey, watershed planner for Horry County, presented the Horry County Oyster Stewardship Program to council, describing a countywide shell‑recycling program that collects used oyster shell from restaurants, festivals and transfer stations, cures shells outdoors for about six months to reduce biological risk, and reuses cured shell as substrate for oyster larvae.
Carey said the program is a nature‑based approach to shoreline protection and water quality, credited partnerships with Horry County Stormwater, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and local schools, and described living reefs built from recycled shell. "We have the largest man made oyster reef in the state of South Carolina, filtering 210,000,000 gallons of water every day," Carey said. He added that baskets used in restoration can host thousands of oysters and that the program has received national recognition.
Why it matters: The program repurposes food‑waste shell into restoration material, supports local stewardship and provides low‑cost, natural filtration that benefits marshes, fisheries and shoreline resilience.
Provenance: topicintro SEG 211; topfinish SEG 277.
