A second large-scale reef system will be developed in South Australia’s Gulf St Vincent to improve water quality and revive wild native oyster populations.
The new two-hectare reef will be built by The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and is being partially funded with an investment of AUS$1.2 million from the South Australian government.
The project follows the construction of the largest man-made oyster reef system outside the United States, the 20-hectare Windara reef network on the other side of the South Australian gulf near Ardrossan.
“Shellfish reefs once characterised the sheltered nearshore areas of South Australia, but from the mid-1800s to the mid-1900s reefs suffered – here and in many places around the world – from the impact of wild harvest, oyster dredging and water pollution,” said TNC’s Australian director, Rich Gilmore.
"These reefs are now virtually absent from South Australian waters. With Windara Reef nearly completed and a new metropolitan shellfish reef in the works, over time as the oysters grow and develop, these reefs will deliver productive and resilient habitat for marine life,” he added.
The reef will be built using a limestone reef base and seeded with hatchery-raised Australian flat oysters (Ostrea angasi). Adult native oysters can filter more than 100 litres of water a day and provide food for small shellfish that in turn provide food for larger fish.
The new reef, expected to be complete by the end of 2020, is part of TNC's National Reef Building Project that aims to rebuild 60 reefs in six years across Australia.
