Shellfish Reefs – Native Oyster Reef Restoration.
The Nature Conservancy released a report Shellfish Reefs at Risk stating: “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”.
The restoration of native oyster reefs is
becoming recognized as a global priority for habitat management and
conservation.
AIM Research will operate the oyster reef restoration.
The native oyster Crassostrea Rhizophorae in Costa Rica originally from the carribean coast commonly known as the mangrove oyster. Due to the lack of mangroves this fishery decreased significantly. However it is one of those with high outlook for Aquaculture Development in tropical countries. The species is exploited commercially, both naturally from the extraction and cultivated, being The Most Productive oyster in the Caribbean. The populations of the native oyster at the Carribean coast of Costa Rica are very small, mainly due to the absence of mangroves. From this past experience we can strive and propose in our endeavour a different set up where take those issues into account and propose a possibly more successful procedure.
