Credit: Dave Allen NIWA
An Aotearoa New Zealand-centered overview of the importance of shellfish to healthy marine ecosystems, the pressures that threaten them, and the potential process and wider considerations for initiating rehabilitation activities (June 2024)
Central to thriving coastal marine communities in Aotearoa New Zealand are shellfish, which are valued as kaimoana and as essential components of a healthy ecosystem. As the health, structure, and function of many of our coastal ecosystems have declined or changed, so too have some of the once plentiful shellfish beds. There are many instances and growing examples of communities and groups coming together to improve the health of marine ecosystems through rehabilitation or restoration, by minimizing impacts of land- or marine-use on coastal environments, or actively enhancing shellfish beds. These range from large-scale coordinated initiatives to local-scale community activities.
