Australia once had vast oyster and mussel reefs, which anchored marine ecosystems and provided a key food source for coastal First Nations people. But after colonization, Europeans harvested them for their meat and shells and pushed oyster and mussel reefs almost to extinction. Because the damage was done early—and largely underwater—the destruction of these reefs was all but forgotten.
Click here for original story, Once the fish factories and ‘kidneys’ of colder seas, Australia’s decimated shellfish reefs are coming back
Source: Phys.org