Glenelg chosen as site for native shellfish reef

May 28, 2020

Environment /

Glenelg, one of Adelaide’s most popular beaches, has been chosen as the location for a two hectare native shellfish reef - the second large-scale reef system to be developed in South Australia’s Gulf St Vincent to improve water quality and revive wild native oyster populations.

Work on the native shellfish reef off the Adelaide coastline is expected to begin in September with Glenelg having been selected ahead of O’Sullivan Beach and Port Noarlunga after scientific advice and public consultation.

The project is a partnership between the South Australian Government, The Nature Conservancy and the City of Holdfast Bay and is being partially funded by a $1.2 million investment from the state government.

It follows the construction of the largest man-made oyster reef system outside the United States on the other side of the South Australian gulf near Ardrossan.

The 20 hectare Windara reef network was built in two stages in 2017 and 2018 and includes almost 160 individual reefs constructed of limestone boulders and seeded with more than 50,000 of endangered Australian flat oysters.

South Australian Minister for Environment and Water David Speirs said the Glenelg shellfish reef would also be constructed using a limestone reef base, with hatchery-raised Australian Flat Oysters (Ostrea angasi) deployed to re-create a living shellfish reef over the next several years.

Minister Speirs noted that more than 1500 responses were received during the community consultation stage of the selection process, reflecting the strong public support for the project.

“In the end Glenelg was chosen as it offers suitable environmental conditions as well as the opportunities for the community, with such good public transport and beach access to the area.

“Shellfish reefs were once common along sheltered nearshore areas of South Australia, however, from the late 1800s to mid-1900s the reefs suffered from the impact of overfishing, dredging, water pollution and disease.

“Aside from the recently completed Windara Reef off the coast of Ardrossan on the Yorke Peninsula, native oyster reefs are now near absent from South Australia’s waters.”

Oyster reefs are considered the temperate water equivalent to coral reefs in tropical waters. Australia’s southern coastline was home to thousands of kilometres of oyster reefs before European settlement. But dredging to remove substrate for lime production and the harvesting of oysters for food wiped out all the reefs except for one off the coast of Tasmania.

Adult native oysters can filter more than 100 litres of water a day and excrete a mucus-like substance that is rich in nutrients and provides food for small shellfish that in turn provide food for larger fish.

Image: Leather jackets schooling at the Stage 1 Windara Reef. Credit: Anita Nedosyko/The Nature Conservancy.

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