RCTB is more than an endeavor to restock a decimated shellfish population. A critical part of our mission is forming and supporting partnerships with academics, municipalities, citizen groups and other environmental organizations in order to educate the public. This empowers and energizes them to make changes to their life style to improve the quality and resilience of the bay.

RCTB engages people in growing shellfish from tiny seeds (the size of a pencil point) in June to the size of an M&M candy by October. We also conduct remote sets where we enable oyster larvae to set on recycled clam and oyster shells. We fill and deploy bags of recycled shells into the bay to stabilize shorelines and catch natural spat from wild oysters. This close involvement establishes a sense of caring (stewardship) that helps people see the reason to change behavior firsthand.