O.K.

The almighty oyster cleans, feeds, shelters, & provides. Denitrifying the water column, harboring juvenile crabs & fin fish, accumulating a dense nutrient profile.

1 OYSTERS ARE FILTER-FEEDERS

Below are excerpts from each paper's abstract. 

Elka T. Porter, Jeffrey C. Cornwell, Lawrence P. Sanford

"Oysters shifted processes to the sediments by decreasing phytoplankton biomass without stimulating additional blooms and by increasing light penetration to the bottom."

M. Lisa Kellogg, Jeffrey C. Cornwell, Michael S. Owens, Kennedy T. Paynter

 "Our results demonstrate that oyster reef restoration can significantly increase denitrification rates and enhance nutrient sequestration via assimilation into bivalve shells."

DARIA SEBASTIANO, JEFFREY S. LEVINTON, MICHAEL DOALL AND SHAUNA KAMATH

"The results suggest that an aquaculture-based oyster fishery might compensate for the nonpoint source nitrogen input that is common in many estuaries where nitrogen input is moderate and sewer systems are not present."

2 OYSTERS SHELTER & PROVIDE HABITAT FOR MANY OTHER SPECIES

Philine S. E. zu Ermgassen, Jonathan H. Grabowski, Jonathan R. Gair, Sean P. Powers

"Recruitment of nineteen and twelve species were found to be enhanced by the addition of C. virginica reefs to previously unstructured habitat in the Gulf of Mexico and the South Atlantic and Mid-Atlantic USA, respectively."

Charles H. Peterson, Jonathan H. Grabowski and Sean P. Powers

"A reef lasting 20 to 30 yr would be expected to augment fish and large mobile crustacean production by a cumulative amount of 38 to 50 kg 10 m–2, discounted to present-day value."

P. J. Sanjeeva Raj

"Keystone species are crucial in restoration ecology. Among all the keystone species known so far, live oysters are by far, the most efficient ‘keystone niches’, attracting hundreds of species to them."

3 OYSTERS HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO OUR HISTORY & CULTURE

Oysters have a very rich history. 

Natural History (77-79 AD)

"And now that we are speaking of oysters...that for this long time past the palm has been awarded to them at our tables as a most exquisite dish. "

The big oyster by mark kurlansky 

"Throughout the nineteenth century, more and more was learned about oysters so that man's proclivity for destroying them was countered by the ability to re-create them. Such newfound powers were making humankind giddy with science's magical ability to withstand its own foolish excess,"

the worlds top oyster bars by peter jon lindberg 

"Rare is the culture that doesn’t love oysters. They are everywhere. But they’re also decidedly Somewhere: within its singular shell, each oyster carries its provenance like a fingerprint. Knocking one back is like mainlining the cove it came from."