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We’re dedicated to increasing native oyster populations in Massachusetts as a nature-based solution to strengthen coastal ecosystems, improve water quality, enhance shoreline resilience, and support biodiversity.

The Massachusetts Oyster Project has three main areas of focus: Restoration, Education, and Advocacy. 

A crucial component of our restoration effort is our upweller program. Upwellers provide a safe, nutrient-rich environment for baby oysters to grow. Beyond their role in our restoration efforts, upwellers are a great way to raise awareness and educate the community about their local ecosystems. Our upwellers can often be found in high-traffic locations within their communities and highlight the important role that oysters play in filtering water and building habitat. 

We currently operate 11 upwellers in communities across the state, including Newburyport, Manchester, , UMass Marine Station - Gloucester, Yarmouth, Harwich, and 2 on Nantucket. This program currently grows over 350,000 oysters annually, which we then plant in approved locations around Massachusetts.  

We also operate a shell-recycling program, which started on Cape Cod. The pick-up area has since expanded to include the South Shore and Westport, with plans to expand to the North Shore and Boston.

Now in our 7th year of operation, recycled oyster shells are collected from 35 restaurants and events, aged for one year, and then transported to community partner projects to use as the base for reef restoration. Currently, we reclaim over 70,000 lbs of shell annually.

Every year, tons of oyster shells are dumped into landfills from restaurants, bars, and events. This often-discarded shell is incredibly valuable to the health of our estuaries and coastal waters, as it serves as an ideal surface for young oysters to settle, grow, and multiply. 

An oyster reef's hard, varied structure helps stabilize a shoreline, protecting it against wave action, which is increasingly important as sea levels rise and coastal storms intensify in severity and frequency. Additionally, the shell's bicarbonate composition helps buffer rising acidity in our waters, another impact of climate change.

An upweller, also known as an oyster nursery, is a system used to grow shellfish seed or young shellfish. The oyster seed, called spat, starts as small as a grain of sand. The upweller is a system of individual cylinders, or silos, through which ocean water is pumped to circulate plankton and provide food to the oysters. Some upwellers are located directly in the water (downweller); others are placed on docks or piers, and water is pumped up to them.

For example, in Gloucester, our upweller is located at Maritime Gloucester’s main pier, about 10-15 feet above the harbor water. Gloucester is one of our oldest upwellers and can grow upwards of 80,000 spat each season. Once the spat has finished the growing season, it is planted off Plum Island Sound. 

Oysters grown in our upwellers around Massachusetts are planted in various locations, including Yarmouth, Nantucket, and Plum Island Sound on the North Shore.

Oysters provide numerous benefits to their natural environment and are crucial to a more resilient Massachusetts coastline in the face of climate change. 

Oysters are filter-feeders, and a single oyster can filter up to 50 gallons of water a day, removing harmful pollutants in the process. For instance, excess nitrogen from fertilizer runoff and sewage, which contributes to ocean acidification and harmful algal blooms. Oysters will filter nitrogen, balancing the pH of the water surrounding an oyster reef.

Oysters also naturally grow in clusters to form reefs. These reefs can act as a buffer for storm surges, dissipating wave energy and mitigating coastal erosion.

Oyster reefs also provide safe habitats for other marine life. A single oyster reef can support as many as 200 additional species, including other shellfish, larger fish, and coastal fauna such as eel grass.

Oyster populations have decreased by 85% worldwide. In Massachusetts, there are only a few natural reefs left. Overfishing, water pollution, and habitat loss have all contributed to their decline. 

In the next 5 years, we want to reach our goals of:

• Planting over 1 million oysters annually

• Reclaiming over 100,000 lbs of shell annually

• Engaging with 10,000 community members

In 2025, we planted 300,000 oysters and recycled over 70,000 lbs of shells in partnership with 27 local restaurants. Already in 2026 we have opened 4 new upwellers and added even more shell recycling restaurant partners along the South Shore and on Cape Cod. You can read our annual report for 2025 in full here.