{"id":168662,"date":"2026-02-25T14:35:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T14:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/168662\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T14:35:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T14:35:24","slug":"doc-fords-st-pete-restaurants-donate-over-14000-pounds-of-oyster-shells-for-tampa-bay-shoreline-restoration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/168662\/","title":{"rendered":"Doc Ford\u2019s St. Pete restaurants donate over 14,000 pounds of oyster shells for Tampa Bay shoreline restoration"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Doc Ford\u2019s Rum Bar &amp; Grille\u2019s two St. Petersburg restaurants collectively recycled 14,267 pounds of discarded oyster shells in 2025, helping Tampa Bay Watch build new oyster reefs and living shorelines throughout the Tampa Bay Estuary. The shells were collected at the Jungle Terrace and St. Petersburg Pier locations for the nonprofit organization\u2019s Shells for Shorelines program.<br \/>\u201cLast year was our first full year participating in the initiative and we\u2019re thrilled with the results,\u201d said Joe Harrity, a partner with HM Restaurant Group, the parent company of Doc Ford\u2019s. \u201cBy donating and diverting shells from the landfill, we\u2019re helping Tampa Bay Watch\u2019s important conservation efforts.\u201d<br \/>The restaurants serve fresh shucked-to-order Gulf oysters on the half shell and Yucat\u00e1n baked oysters marinated in signature sauce and baked with creamy Manchego cheese topping. Both preparations are longtime menu favorites and reflect Doc Ford\u2019s Caribbean Rim-inspired approach to seafood.<br \/>Doc Ford\u2019s began partnering with Tampa Bay Watch in the summer of 2024 and recycled nearly 4,600 pounds during the inaugural year. Shells for Shorelines provides free recycling collection at local restaurants and cures the shells before placement. Demonstrating the power of community and environmental stewardship in action, the innovative coastal restoration initiative transforms discarded oyster shells into shell bags for vertical oyster gardens. It has collected 322,434 pounds of shells since the program\u2019s inception in 2022.<br \/>\u201cTampa Bay Watch has been pleased to partner with Doc Ford\u2019s Rum Bar &amp; Grille to recycle oyster shells for restoration efforts taking place throughout Tampa Bay,\u201d said Reagan Fennessy, the organization\u2019s oyster shell recycling program coordinator. \u201cTampa Bay Watch has truly enjoyed the partnership.\u201d<br \/>Dedicated to fostering a healthy Tampa Bay watershed, Tampa Bay Watch achieves its mission through community-driven restoration projects, education programs and outreach. For more information, visit tampabaywatch.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Doc Ford\u2019s Rum Bar &amp; Grille\u2019s two St. Petersburg restaurants collectively recycled 14,267 pounds of discarded oyster shells&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":23567,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":["post-168662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-petersburg","tag-st-pete","tag-st-pete-headlines","tag-st-pete-news","tag-st-petersburg","tag-st-petersburg-headlines","tag-st-petersburg-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168662","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=168662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/168662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=168662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=168662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=168662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}