Oyster season opens -- remember to recycle those shells

The S.C. Department of Natural Resources delayed the opening because of public health recommendations from the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control, according to a DNR release.

In spring 2009, DHEC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirmed two cases of bacterial illness in South Carolina resulting from oyster consumption. Warm coastal waters create higher concentrations of the bacteria -- the two-week delay allowed water temperatures to cool.

Once the oyster roasts begin, Beaufort County residents can recycle oyster shells at four locations in the county:

• Bluffton, near the Bluffton Oyster Co.

• Port Royal, near The Sands

• Russ Point, before the bridge to Fripp Island

• Beaufort, near the Beaufort County maintenance facility on Shanklin Road

DNR officials said there soon will be a fifth facility on Hilton Head Island.

The recycled shells -- necessary to help oyster beds continue to flourish -- are redistributed to Beaufort County estuaries where shellfishing is open to the public, according to Bill Anderson of DNR. Oyster larvae attach to the shells, where they can grow to maturity.

This year, DNR will redistribute 200 tons of recycled oyster shells statewide, Anderson said. Of those, 25 percent are collected at DNR's statewide shell collection centers. The remaining shells must be purchased at a cost of around $40,000, an amount paid for in part by recreational harvesting license fees, he said.

Commercial harvesters are required by state law to redistribute shells themselves, he said.