State's restaurants don't recycle shells

Restaurants up and down the East Coast recycle their discarded oyster shells for restoration - but not in Maryland.

The nonprofit Oyster Recovery Partnership is working on a pilot program for oyster shell recycling that could be in place next winter, said director Stephan Abel.

Participating restaurants and caterers would collect shells that would then be sent to the University of Maryland's oyster hatchery in Cambridge. Eventually, baby oysters bred at the hatchery would be attached to the shells for use in rebuilding oyster...