3 ms·

I buy the foodborne illness argument, but I'm not sure I agree with where they're going with overharvest and pollution. Pollution is certainly bad FOR oysters,

I buy the foodborne illness argument, but I'm not sure I agree with where they're going with overharvest and pollution. Pollution is certainly bad FOR oysters, but synthetic oysters neither mitigate pollution, nor does reduced oyster farming lead to more wild oysters in the environment, as far as I know. Oysters can (and I gather often are) grown on structures that facilitate harvest, rather than necessarily competing for space with the wild ones. Plus, seeding oyster growing areas pretty much ensures more propagation of oysters in where they are farmed. And since oysters filter the water, growing fewer oysters (farmed or otherwise) would just increase pollution. Since oysters are pretty easily cultivated, the solution to overharvest is to build more oyster growing structures and increase production... which leads to better water quality, which leads to healthier oyster populations. A virtuous cycle as I understand it. EDIT: I must also confess here that I don't particularly love eating oysters. The irony of my positivity towards oyster farming is not lost on me :-)

photochemsyn 4y ago
Yes, oysters and similar molluscs filter the water column and hence improve water clarity... but they're the filter. They may accumulate a wide variety of interesting materials and compounds, such as microplastics, heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, organochlorine and organophosphate pesticides and herbicides... and then people eat this equivalent of a swimming pool filter? No thanks. For example: (2008) "Contamination profiles of heavy metals, organochlorine pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and alkylphenols in sediment and oyster collected from marsh/estuarine Savannah GA, USA", Kumar et al. https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2007.08.011 https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2007.08.011
- peatmoss 4y ago
  Many formerly-polluted environments are used to produce food after bioremediation. Farming oysters that are then not used for human consumption until the environment can support farmed oysters that are fit for human consumption is possible. Also, not all the toxins that oysters filter from the water stay in the oyster. Much of what they filter ends up sequestered in the sediment layer.
  - ch4s3 4y ago
    Not only that, but it provides a good economic incentive to improve water quality.

photochemsyn 4y ago

Yes, oysters and similar molluscs filter the water column and hence improve water clarity... but they're the filter. They may accumulate a wide variety of interesting materials and compounds, such as microplastics, heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, organochlorine and organophosphate pesticides and herbicides... and then people eat this equivalent of a swimming pool filter? No thanks. For example: (2008) "Contamination profiles of heavy metals, organochlorine pesticides, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and alkylphenols in sediment and oyster collected from marsh/estuarine Savannah GA, USA", Kumar et al. https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2007.08.011 https://sci-hub.se/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2007.08.011

peatmoss 4y ago
Many formerly-polluted environments are used to produce food after bioremediation. Farming oysters that are then not used for human consumption until the environment can support farmed oysters that are fit for human consumption is possible. Also, not all the toxins that oysters filter from the water stay in the oyster. Much of what they filter ends up sequestered in the sediment layer.
- ch4s3 4y ago
  Not only that, but it provides a good economic incentive to improve water quality.