A new global study of Indigenous oyster fisheries co-led by Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History anthropologist Torben Rick and Temple University anthropologist and former Smithsonian postdoctoral fellow Leslie Reeder-Myers
A recent study shows that for thousands of years, Indigenous peoples were harvesting tonnes of oysters sustainably. Researchers say this shows that it’s possible to do large-scale harvesting without harming ecosystems.
Over thousands of years, Indigenous peoples harvested billions of oysters sustainably on the East and West Coasts of North America and on the East Coast of Australia, according to a recent global study. It was not until the arrival of European colonizers that oyster populations began to plummet.