Details
Illustrator: Jeroen Helmer
Languages: Dutch, English
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Shellfish reefs and their key role in nature
You get this download absolutely free. This offer is only for personal or educational use. Are you looking for this image for commercial use or for the media? Please contact us at beeld@ark.eu
Thank you for your involvement in a wilder Netherlands! ARK Rewilding Netherlands is a non-profit foundation. With gifts and donations, subsidies and loans, we create new, wild nature reserves every year. Do you want to support our work and/or stay informed?
Shellfish reefs and their key role in nature
The reefs formed by flat oysters and other shellfish on the seabed are essential for a strong, healthy North Sea ecosystem. Fish and other animals use shellfish reefs as nurseries, for shelter and to find food. Furthermore, shellfish filter seawater, making it clearer. This allows hunting fish and birds to see their prey more easily and helps seaweed to grow better. Around sixty per cent more species are found on the reefs than on nearby sandy seabeds. The reefs break waves, thereby also protecting our coastline.
Once, a third of the seabed of our North Sea was covered by shellfish reefs, but fishing and disease have transformed the seabed into a barren sandy expanse. To strengthen the North Sea’s natural environment, ARK and the World Wildlife Fund are facilitating the development of new reefs.