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You can learn more and explore new places when you join the Conservancy's online community and build your own personalized nature page. Reef Restoration in Action
Go Deeper |
Native oyster reefs were once ecologically and economically dominant in many temperate estuaries around the world. Just as coral reefs are critical to tropical marine habitats, bivalve shellfish are the ecosystem engineers of bays and estuaries, creating the enabling conditions for many other species as well as providing important services to people.
Centuries of intensive fisheries extraction exacerbated by more recent coastal degradation have put oyster reefs near or past the point of functional extinction worldwide. Globally, 85 percent of reefs have been lost, making oyster reefs the most severely impacted marine habitat on the planet.
Shellfish reefs and beds are essential to the health of marine ecosystems, yet they are almost always solely managed for harvest not habitat. The Shellfish Reefs at Risk report provides the first global view of the distribution and condition of oyster reefs – one of the most important and valuable resources to humans but among the least well recognized as a habitat.
Realistic and cost-effective solutions in conservation, restoration, and management can help turn the tide for shellfish reefs. By implementing these solutions, we can work to stem reef loss and revitalize this critical habitat.
Nature picture credits (top to bottom, left to right): Photo © Barry Truitt (oyster reefs at Virginia Coast Reserve); Photo © Diana Garland (oyster beds, Virginia Coast Reserve).
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