Shellfish Restoration Task Force launched in Massachusetts

BOSTON – The Secretary of the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs Matthew Beaton is partnering with shellfish stakeholders to establish a Massachusetts Shellfish Initiative Task Force.  The Task Force includes representatives of commercial shellfishermen, shellfish farmers, recreational harvesters, restoration groups, and municipalities, as well as legislative and executive office members, in an effort to […]

Oysters deployed for restoration of Pumicestone Passage

Just before Christmas, the team at Restore Pumicestone Passage, along with incredible help from the OzFish Unlimited volunteers, manufactured 80 besser modules and prepared them ready for shellfish reef restoration deployment into Pumicestone Passage on Bribie Island, Queensland. Find out more about the project here: http://restorepumicestonepassage.org/

New York Harbour’s Billion Oyster Project

New York (CNN Business)The New York Harbor for years has been polluted and depleted of marine life. But one nonprofit is working to clean the murky water and revive its long-lost ecosystem — one oyster at a time.The Billion Oyster Project has worked since 2014 to rebuild oyster reefs in the waters surrounding New York […]

Living Shorelines Program pushes forward

OceanWatch Australia have produced an informative YouTube video explaining the importance of oyster reefs as water quality regulators and habitats. The video also talks about oyster reefs as coastal and shoreline protection and provides a great update on the Living Shorelines Program.

Recycled oyster shells in Port Philip Bay

Earlier this month, 7 News Melbourne shared the fantastic work the team at the TNC are doing restoring oyster reefs in Port Philip Bay. See the full piece from 7 News here: 7 News Melbourne Port Philip Oysters More information on the oyster shell recycling can be found in this great YouTube video from Simon wan […]

Molluscs 2018 Symposium in Wellington – December

The Malacological Society of Australasia is hosting the 2018 Molluscs Symposium at The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa (aka ‘Te Papa’), in Wellington, New Zealand, from December 2-5, 2018. This will be the first time the MSA’s triennial conference will be held in New Zealand, and we warmly welcome all malacological scientists, students, […]

International shellfish restoration conference hosted in Australia

The 19th International Conference on Shellfish Restoration was held at the University of Adelaide 19-21 February 2018. This is the first time the conference has been held in the southern hemisphere and reflects the rapid increase in restoration research and practice in Australia.Over 70 delegates were present over the three day conference, including speakers from […]

Giant man-made reef ready to revive Australia’s native oyster

The final construction stage of the largest man-made oyster reef system outside the United States has been completed in South Australia. The 20-hectare (50 acre) reef in the waters of Gulf St Vincent in South Australia is the first of what is hoped to be five major reef projects in the state to revive wild […]

Artificial reefs bringing Queensland waterways back to life

Communities have taken the lead in two new projects to bring oysters and, hopefully, fish back to popular Queensland tourist spots. More than 100 years ago, oysters were so plentiful around south-east Queensland that entire reefs were dredged up to supply oyster saloons interstate. Kerry Jones from the Kabi Kabi First Nation said oysters had […]

Marine scientists urge protection for endangered shellfish reefs

Marine scientists are lobbying the federal government to ensure protection for Australia’s most endangered – but least known – ocean ecosystem. Shellfish reefs, formed by millions of oysters or mussels clustering together in or near the mouths of estuaries, have declined by up 99% since British colonisation. Yet they are not formally recognised as a threatened […]