AH SHUCKS, WE’RE SAVING REEFS

GEELONG restaurants are using leftover seafood shells to spearhead what promises to be an absolute pearler of an idea to save our reefs.

Instead of clamming up, Wah Wah Gee and Little Creatures Brewery are working with The Nature Conservancy and the State Government’s Take 2 campaign to show they have the mussel to make a shell of an effort at regenerating Australia’s declining reef systems.

The restaurants are collecting leftover shells from customer’s plates, but instead of throwing them away, they’re donated, cleaned and put to use as natural building blocks for reefs affected by climate change and warming ocean temperatures.

The project, which also involves the Albert Park Yachting and Angling Club, is the first of its kind in Australia.

The Nature Conservancy marine restoration co-ordinator and Ocean Grove local Simon Branigan said the effort had been pioneered in the US through a decade of scientific work.

The project uses shells combined with limestone rubble to form the foundation for the reefs.

To date, the organisation has stockpiled more than 300 cubic metres of shells, which are then quarantined and cured for six months with support from the City of Greater Geelong.

You can head to natureaustralia.org.au for more details.