Uneaten oysters provide pearl of an environmental solution during COVID-19 pandemic

Environmental groups are buying up uneaten oysters and using them to build "living reefs" to protect coastal communities from the impacts of climate change.

Environmental groups and oyster farmers have found a silver lining -- or a pearl -- amid the ravages of the pandemic. Millions of oysters that went unsold when restaurants closed are finding a new life back in the ocean, where advocates say they'll help the environment and help coastal communities combat climate change. Seafood and shellfish demand crashed during the pandemic. By the time restaurants began to reopen, many oysters had grown too big to eat. But environmental groups quickly recognized a way to use those oysters in coastal communities. The Nature Conservancy and PEW Charitable Trusts announced plans to buy millions of unsold oysters and return them to the ocean as living reefs.