Alex Frank

http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2011/02/03/oysters_at_risk_gastronomes_delight_disappearing_globally.html

The amount of oyster reefs had lowered dramatically in the past few years. In some regions of the globe oysters are almost non-existant anymore. They used to be important to coastal ecosystems and now are abundant and most likely rare. In North America the Gulf of Mexico is the most oyster populous. The oysters were used as food to humans as well as filtering the water.

To me the oyster shortage is not only important to forming bays but also keeping the water quality clean. Extinction of species is more common than we think and oysters might be next if we keep up with our polluting. In less than 30 years over 1200 million gallons of oil have been spread through coastal enviroment distributing to the great shortage. The gulf coast oil spill in 2010 doesnt help it either. To me keeping and rebuilding the oyster population is quite important.