Oyster Shells: A Path to Shoreline Restoration  

Matthew Siegler*

Oyster shell incentives demonstrate that tax policy can support reef restoration, yet most state regimes fall short of coherent or durable design. In Louisiana, efforts ultimately culminating in a tax credit in exchange for oyster shells began in 2014, when the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana (“CRCL”) established the Oyster Shell Recycling Program.¹ The CRCL employs cultch planting and other reef restoration methods to restore the Louisiana coastline, among other benefits.² The need for this restoration stems, in part, from the oil and gas industry in Louisiana where “[t]housands of miles of pipelines and navigation canals cut for industry contributed to saltwater intrusion on freshwater marshland and wetlands erosion . . . provid[ing] more pathways for storm surges to advance inland.”³ The U.S. Geological Survey estimates a loss of roughly 1,900 square miles of Louisiana’s coast since 1932.⁴

With that in mind, the Louisiana legislature’s 2023 Regular Session passed Act No. 404, enacting § 47:6043.⁵ Act No. 404 was passed “to establish a refundable tax credit for restaurants that recycle oyster shells” with specific reference to oyster shell material donated to the Oyster Shell Recycling Program of the CRCL.⁶ This program offers a refundable credit of one dollar per fifty-pound donation of oyster shells for restaurants.⁷ While this tax provision appears to confer a benefit, that benefit is capped at $100,000 per calendar year of credits given, and cannot be claimed after December 31, 2028, despite its application to tax years beginning no earlier than January 1, 2024.⁸

Outside of this localized Louisiana example, “coastal erosion affects all regions of the United States,” including along the Great Lakes.⁹ Maryland, for example, made the addition of § 10-724.1 to its general tax code, permitting a tax credit of five dollars for each bushel of oyster shells recycled in a given tax year.¹⁰ This tax credit was limited to $1,500 per year, but went out of effect on June 30, 2023.¹¹ That tax credit was an addition to the already existing credit for aquaculture oyster floats, which is a device “designed for the purpose of growing oysters at or under an individual homeowner’s pier,” but is limited to $500.¹² These Maryland tax incentives, however, were not put in place explicitly or solely for coastline restoration, but were primarily focused on providing habitat to native oysters and increasing water filtration.¹³  

Along those lines, Virginia passed House Bill No. 1438, which provides a four-dollar tax credit per bushel of oyster shells, with the same $1,500 limit as Maryland.¹⁴ This tax credit is due to expire January 1, 2028, and is limited to $250,000 available annually.¹⁵ New York has also proposed a “[b]ivalve mollusk shell recycling credit” at ten cents per pound, limited to $1,000 total per taxpayer.¹⁶ There are undoubtedly ongoing efforts in various states across the United States aimed at incentivizing the shell donations envisaged by the aforementioned tax credits. Despite statutory drawbacks like expiration of the tax credits or annual limitations, the real question is whether these tax credit incentives are effective.  

Returning to CRCL and its Oyster Shell Recycling Program, it’s clear the tax credits have a tangible impact on shoreline restoration efforts. Since the inception of the program, CRCL has been able to construct over 8,600 feet of living shoreline for oyster reefs using recycled shells.¹⁷ In 2016, the CRCL used 868 tons of donated oyster shells to build the Biloxi Marsh Living Shoreline, which has reduced shoreline erosion of the adjacent marsh by 50% compared to unprotected areas.¹⁸ Other reefs have been built to date by CRCL, with plans for additional reef construction already underway.¹⁹ Providing additional incentive to donate, particularly for restaurants that discard high volumes of oyster shells, only serves to increase donations received.  

On a larger scale, and following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (“NOAA”) Office of Habitat Conservation awarded $5 million to Restore America’s Estuaries, of which CRCL is a member organization.²⁰ This project, outside of specific tax credits, is a national effort to restore oyster reef habitat along the southern United States coastline, including Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, and Texas.²¹ NOAA cites additional benefits of the improved oyster ecosystem, including the ability to better support fishermen, oyster farmers, and seafood processors, as well as boosting tourism in affected regions.²² Not only do oyster reefs reduce shoreline erosion, they provide habitat and nursery grounds for all walks of aquatic life.²³ CRCL efforts have also been focused on protecting sacred land and sites for Indigenous tribes, such as at the Pointe-Au-Chien Community Reef which used 200 tons of bagged oyster shells to protect an Indigenous mound site.²⁴ While much work remains to be done, and the tax credits that help further these efforts are far from perfect, it’s clear that oyster reef restoration has led to tangible improvement for the United States’ coastlines and for those who rely on them.  

*Matthew Siegler, J.D. Candidate, University of St. Thomas School of Law, Class of 2026 (Senior Editor). Many thanks to Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley, co-hosts of Gastropod, the co-hosts of the podcast that inspired this blog post, specifically their 2024 episode about how oyster shells are being used to counter sea-level rising and coastal shoreline degradation. The World is Your Oyster: How Our Favorite Shellfish Could Save Coastlines Worldwide, Gastropod (Apr. 2, 2024), https://gastropod.com/the-world-is-your-oyster-how-our-favorite-shellfish-could-save-coastlines-worldwide/ [https://perma.cc/8XFN-4QAT].  

1. CRCL’s Oyster Shell Recycling Program, Coal. to Restore Coastal La., https://www.crcl.org/oyster-shell-recycling/ [https://perma.cc/9LPH-TWPZ ] (last visited Sept. 21, 2025).   ↩︎
2. Id.; Daniel R. Patrolia & Thomas Mohrman, Oyster Shell Recycling: Challenges and Opportunities for Reef Restoration, 43 J. of Shellfish Rsch. 361, 362 (2025). ↩︎
3. Catie Sampson, From the Sky, There’s No Denying Louisiana’s Disappearing Coastline, The Hist. New Orleans Collection (Mar. 19, 2025), https://hnoc.org/publishing/first-draft/from-the-sky-theres-no-denying-louisianas-disappearing-coastline %5Bhttps://perma.cc/BW87-8W5R%5D.  ↩︎
4. City of New Orleans, Coastal Erosion, Hazard Mitigation Plan, https://ready.nola.gov/hazard-mitigation/hazards/coastal-erosion/ [https://perma.cc/ZX8A-VY82] (last visited Sept. 21, 2025).   ↩︎
5. H.B. 255, 2023 Leg., 49th Reg. Sess. (La. 2023); La. Stat. § 47:6043 (2024).  ↩︎
6. H.B. 255, 2023 Leg., 49th Reg. Sess. (La. 2023); La. Stat. § 47:6043(B)(2) (2024). ↩︎
7. La. Stat. § 47:6043(C)(1) (2024). ↩︎
8. Id. § 47:6043(C)(2), (H). ↩︎
9. Coastal Erosion, U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit, https://toolkit.climate.gov/coastal-erosion [https://perma.cc/6F6N-FT3Z] (last visited Sept. 21, 2025). ↩︎
10. Md. Code, Tax-Gen. § 10-724.1 (repealed 2022). ↩︎
11. Id.  ↩︎
12. Md. Code, Tax-Gen. § 10-724 (2024).  ↩︎
13. David M. Kall, David H. Godenswager, II & Susan Millradt McGlone, Multistate Tax Update – May 28, 2015, McDonald Hopkins (May 28, 2015), https://www.mcdonaldhopkins.com/insights/news/Multistate-Tax-Update-May-28-2015 [https://perma.cc/T6HY-4VFA]. ↩︎
14. H.B. 1438, 2023 Gen. Assemb., Reg. Sess. (Va. 2023). ↩︎
15. Id. ↩︎
16. S.B. 6883, 2025–26 Leg., Reg. Sess. (N.Y. 2025). ↩︎
17. Oyster Shell Restoration Projects, Coal. to Restore Coastal La., https://www.crcl.org/reef-monitoring/ [https://perma.cc/VY3N-C4DU] (last visited Sept. 21, 2025).  ↩︎
18. Id. ↩︎
19. Id.  ↩︎
20. Gulf Coast: Oyster Shell Recycling Key to Sustainable Seafood and Coastal Protection, NOAA Fisheries (Mar. 6, 2024), https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/gulf-coast-oyster-shell-recycling-key-sustainable-seafood-and-coastal-protection [https://perma.cc/Y6SG-6324]; Restore Am.’s Estuaries, Annual Report 2024 3 (2024), https://estuaries.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/RAE-2024-Annual-Report-2.pdf [https://perma.cc/2PJL-PM4E].   ↩︎
21. NOAA Fisheries, supra note 20. ↩︎
22. NOAA Fisheries, supra note 20. ↩︎
23. NOAA Fisheries, supra note 20. ↩︎
24. Coal. to Restore Coastal La., supra note 17. ↩︎

Oyster Shells: A Path to Shoreline Restoration