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According to a study published in the February issue of BioScience, 85% percent of the world’s native oyster reefs have been destroyed.

Oyster Apocalypse? Truth About Bivalve Obliteration

Three-quarters of the wild oysters left in the world, the study says, now live in North America — and they aren’t all doing that great, either. Many of the native reefs that still exist are “functionally extinct,” meaning they no longer play a significant role in the ecosystem, which is a big deal since these rugged little buggers used to do such things as create habitats for other species, keep the water clean and shore up coastlines. One of the last major areas to harbor native oyster reefs is the Gulf of Mexico, and at least half of the ones there were destroyed by the BP oil spill — or the subsequent attempts to clean it up.