- March 30, 2025
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Most of us think of oysters as vicious critters we shuck and slurp. The shells? They’re usually headed for the trash. Not a good idea, according to environmentalists.
Those shells can be put to work.
Oyster Boys Conservation, a Sarasota County nonprofit founded in 2022 by brothers Dom and Vince Marino, collects the shells and ultimately returns them to the water in the form of vertical oyster gardens. Known as a VOGs (pronounced “vog”), they consist of 20 shells strung together with rope and hung from docks into the water. More than 1,000 VOGs, courtesy of the Oyster Boys, can now be found in various bodies of water around the area’s barrier islands.
The shells attract oyster larvae and produce new mature oysters, which can filter up to 50 gallons of water per day, removing excess nutrients and sediment. Do the math. A single VOG has the potential to filter 1,000 gallons of water per day. That, in turn, assists in the growth of seagrass, which has been on decline in local waters for decades. Seagrass is crucial in improving water quality, reducing erosion and providing habitats for marine species. It’s also a vital food source for our beloved manatees.
VOGs are a fairly new phenomenon. Oysters used to primarily congregate in large beds, but “our problem is that there’s not nearly as many of those around anymore,” says Dom Marino. “We’ve lost 90% of them over the past century due to development of our coastlines.”
In 2021, Dom, 29, got the idea for Oyster Boys Conservation when he returned home to south Sarasota from college in Missouri and heard manatees were dying at a record-setting rate. “I said, ‘Why is it happening?’” he recalls. “I did some research and found out that oysters can help.”
Dom recruited Vince, who’s six years younger, and a few friends. Within a year, they set up a 501 (c) (3) and a VOG program. Here’s how it works:
Vince and Sam Jeffcoat, the Oyster Boys field operations co-directors, collect shells from participating restaurants, which set them aside in buckets. Lefty’s Oyster and Seafood Bar, Walt’s Fish Market, Captain Eddie’s Seafood and Dockside Waterfront Grill are the primary donors. The Oyster Boys gather the shells on pallets so they can dry and rid themselves of stink.
At first, the organization stored and cured them on Dom’s front lawn in Osprey. Then Elizabeth Moore, a prominent Sarasota philanthropist who focuses on the environment, heard about the nonprofit’s efforts and offered space on her ecology-conscious Moore Bliss Farm. “I love their mission,” she says of the Oyster Boys. “All those shells are a whole mecca of biodiversity.”
The Oyster Boys drill holes in the shells, then hold VOG workshops, where volunteers gather and string them with heavy-duty rope made of coconut fiber and tie it at the bottom. Moore Bliss Farm hosts workshops once a month, and Oyster Boys also hold them in schools, retirement homes and other locations. Each session produces 50 to 100 VOGs.
The Oyster Boys crew then fastens VOGs onto the bottom of residential docks, as well as those at bait shops and marinas, “pretty much anywhere in the entire Sarasota Bay estuary,” Dom says.
In May 2022, the Oyster Boys hung its first VOGs at a community dock in the Osprey neighborhood where the Marino brothers grew up. “My parents still live there,” Dom says. “It’s a small community called Sunset Place, about eight houses. When we were kids, we were always fishing and boating, swimming, jumping off the dock.”
Dom estimates Oyster Boys Conservation has installed close to 1,400 VOGs, and collects about 10,000 pounds of oyster shells per year. Those numbers are sure to increase, and soon. Thus far, the nonprofit has operated on a small budget, but “turned a corner this year,” Dom says, with the hiring of Abby Hendershot as operations coordinator. She’s the organization’s first paid employee. “We were birthed with a mantra of ‘ready, fire, aim,’” Dom says. “So Abby’s job is to get us organized and coordinated, making sure we follow through on everything. She’s also active in data collection. We want to quantify how much true impact we’re having. That helps when you’re applying for different grants and seeking donations.”
A payroll boosts the budget, of course, and that means fundraising. Oyster Boys has a 2025 goal of $50,000. “We’re less than halfway there,” Dom adds. So far, they have received two $10,000 grants — in 2024 and 2025 — from the Sarasota Bay Estuary Program, and $7,000 from the Gulf Coast Community Foundation.
“Fundraising is a focus for us this year, especially with Abby on board, because we know that we need money coming in to sustain her position and move the mission forward,” Dom says.
Part of this year’s Sarasota Bay Estuary Program grant went toward an initiative that saw the Oyster Boys partnering with the Pelican Cove HOA, not far from Little Sarasota Bay, to build and hang 680 VOGs on the community’s docks.
Oyster Boys’ other key focus is education. The organization has partnered with groups at State College of Florida and the University of Florida, and has set up a program with Roger Williams University in Rhode Island to implement vertical oyster gardening in New England.
All told, the oyster is our world, or at least a more significant part of it than most of us thought. They’re remarkable, complex creatures.
“Many people — myself included not too long ago — don’t realize how critical they are to our well-being,” Dom says. “People can take action and help in what is a sacred cause. We want them to understand that they can be part of the solution.”
