WABI interviews Bayer about lobster shell jewelry
A WABI (Channel 5) report on jewelry made from lobster shells quoted Bob Bayer, executive director of the University of Maine Lobster Institute. Bayer was contacted by Giada Giachino, an Italian student studying jewelry design in London, about using lobster shells as a replacement for endangered coral in jewelry, according to the report. Bayer sent shells, which usually end up in landfills, to Giachino who hopes to expand the technique to making tiles and furniture in the future. The Lobster Institute works with the lobster industry from Long Island, New York to Newfoundland, and its main goal is sustainability, WABI reported. The institute would like to bring Giachino’s creations to Maine, where “we’ll be buying lobster shells or she will, and hopefully some of this money goes back to fishermen,” Bayer said.