Once Abundant, Vital Food Species, Pacific Coast Oysters Essentially Extinct In California

[hatrack]

A disturbing nationwide decline in oysters and the life-giving reefs that they build is particularly dramatic in California, where the once-abundant native species has been virtually wiped out, according to a recent scientific study.

The report, published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B, said Olympia oysters, once an integral part of the Native American diet and a staple during the San Francisco Gold Rush, are functionally extinct.

"Essentially, today, the number of oyster reefs is zero," said Rob Brumbaugh, restoration director for the Nature Conservancy and co-author of the study. "It's the complete elimination of a key species and habitat on the West Coast."

The loss of native oysters - not to be confused with the farm-raised Japanese Pacific oysters - is a serious issue, he said, because oysters clean the water by filter feeding. A single oyster can filter up to 30 gallons of water a day, removing nitrogen and other pollutants, Brumbaugh said. The oyster beds, or reefs, they create provide habitat for myriad fish, crabs and other creatures.

EDIT

http://www.sfgate.com/science/article/Once-abundant-West-Coast-oysters-near-extinction-3689709.php

[thelordofhell]

1. I hope they were delicious

Thanks fuckers

[hunter]

2. The ocean has changed a lot since I was a kid.

I used to go sportsfishing with my dad and we'd fill the freezer with BIG fish. I remember hauling in fish that were as big as I was, sometimes from piers and barges.

The times my dad's gone fishing with his grandkids haven't been as exciting.

The shoreline life looks a lot different too.

I'm radical, I think commercial fishing should be banned just as commercial hunting was.

We're doing the same thing to fish that we did to the Passenger Pigeon.