Oyster beds in Mobile Bay are slowly coming back to life. The Alabama Wildlife Federation and several partners have launched a 50-acre oyster cultch planting project near Cedar Point Beach, while Mobile Baykeeper’s Oyster Keepers Program placed 240,000 oysters on restoration reefs in 2025 alone.
The milestones come as the region marks National Oyster Day on August 5.
The Alabama Wildlife Federation began work on the Cedar Point project in July 2026, using approximately 4,600 tons of No. 4 washed limestone shipped by barge from Vulcan Materials’ Pride Quarry in Tuscumbia. Cooper Marine handled barge transport, while JW Marine deployed the limestone across the restoration area.
“Oysters have been part of Alabama’s culture for more than a thousand years,” said Chris Blankenship, commissioner of the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
The Cedar Point project is the fourth oyster cultch planting led by the Alabama Wildlife Federation. Past plantings include 2,600 tons near Dauphin Island and 1,000 tons near Gaillard Island in Mobile Bay.
Meanwhile, Mobile Baykeeper’s Oyster Keepers Program aims to return five million oysters to Mobile Bay by 2028. The program launched in 2023 with a pilot featuring four pier gardens on Dauphin Island and in Bon Secour Bay. Today, 44 pier owners are enrolled, each hosting cages attached to their residential docks with 160 live adult oysters distributed across four cages. Together, the cages filter 8,000 gallons of water daily and produce 400 million larvae annually.
More than 80 percent of Mobile Bay’s historic oyster population has vanished since 1950, largely due to overharvesting, pollution and habitat loss, making restoration efforts like these increasingly important to the bay’s long-term health.