Shell Game, a Times project by Laura Reiley and Eve Edelheit, is a James Beard finalist

The Tampa Bay Times project Shell Game was named a finalist in the James Beard Foundation Journalism Awards, the organization announced Wednesday.

Laura Reiley and Eve Edelheit are finalists in the category of feature reporting for the 2018 project that followed the evolution of oyster culture in Apalachicola.

The story examined the collapse of Florida's wild oyster industry and the concurrent rise of the state's oyster aquaculture business, chronicling the heartbreak for those caught in between. Read the story here.

Reiley and Edelheit followed up later that year when Hurricane Michael blew many of the oysters away. Read that story here.

The two other finalists are from the New York Times Magazine and the California Sunday Magazine. Reiley was also a Beard finalist in 2017 for her investigation into local food fraud, Farm to Fable.

The media awards honor the nation's top food journalists, cookbook authors, producers and hosts.

The winner will be announced at the 2019 Media Awards on April 26 at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers in New York City.