Study uncovers vivid and poignant accounts of reefs as high as houses off countries including UK, France and Ireland
Only a handful of natural oyster reefs measuring at most a few square metres cling on precariously along European coasts after being wiped out by overfishing, dredging and pollution.
A study led by British scientists has discovered how extensive they once were, with reefs as high as a house covering at least 1.7m hectares (4.2m acres) from Norway to the Mediterranean, an area larger than Northern Ireland.
The study involved dozens of researchers poring over government records, nautical charts, fishery reports, customs documents, naturalists’ accounts, scientific journals and newspapers from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries to piece together the spread of the European flat oyster (Ostrea edulis).
They found vivid – and poignant – accounts of often sprawling reefs at 1,196 locations off countries including the UK, France, Ireland, Denmark, Spain, Germany and the Netherlands. One report from a scientific article mentioned oyster reefs reaching 7 metres in height in the Black Sea.
Ah but the capitalist has to sacrifice the short term and play the long game of not over harvesting. And nothing matters more to a capitalist than short term profit
That’s not capitalism, that’s human nature. If I don’t quickly take it, someone else will. The Tragedy of the Commons happens no matter the economic system.
Trajedy of the commons is not inveitable, it is how people behave in barbaric societies with ruthlessly little compassion for anyone suffering, it represents a failstate of deeply dysfunctional societies (like the US).