Add this to your growing list of Earth going to hell
Enjoy your shucking while it lasts. Wild oysters are now “functionally extinct” in many places around the world where they were once plentiful. More than 85 per cent of their reefs have been lost due to overfishing, according to a new study
via Wild oysters in danger of extinction – Nature, Environment – The Independent.
An interesting note on the functional extinction of oysters – there is a lot of interest now in using oysters to help clean up eutrophied and otherwise contaminated waters. In essence, shellfish people are interested in restoring the ecosystem function of oysters, not necessarily the fishery. An example of this is in the Hudson River, where several test reefs have been planted and some considerable new research is being done on the subject. I linked to some of these projects in my blog post here. Not suggesting functional extinction isn’t an issue, but its good to see some management strategies focused on restoring ecosystem function.
As a side note, if your interested, Jeff Levinton is giving a public lecture on this topic – the feasibility of restoring oysters in new york – next Friday night at Southampton, NY. If anyone is in the area, these are usually pretty good seminars. He is also talking about the subject at the National Shellfish Association Meeting next month in Baltimore.