The seemingly harmless collection of seashells as souvenirs is sparking an alarming environmental crisis. Research from the University of Florida and Barcelona has found that shellfish harvesting degrades coastal ecosystems, threatens biodiversity, alters sediment stability and weakens the ability of coastlines to withstand the effects of climate change.
- Every year, an average of six tons of shells taken by tourists are confiscated at Costa Rica’s airports, causing significant damage to the country’s coasts.
- This AI tool, which the country is making available to the scientific community, can be trained to correctly classify species worldwide, allowing them to be returned to their native ecosystems.
In Costa Rica, large numbers of mussels are confiscated at airports to prevent them from being taken abroad. For decades, these shells were buried because their origin – whether from the Pacific or the Caribbean – was unknown, making it impossible to safely return them to the sea. Without proper classification, returning the shells could pose risks such as: B. the introduction of non-native organisms, parasites or microbes that could disrupt local biodiversity.
To address this issue, the Back Home project led by FIFCO in collaboration with Imperialthe Ministry of Environment and Energy, AERIS and the University of Costa Rica developed a solution that can be copied worldwide. This project aims to reintegrate the mussels into their ancestral marine habitats by developing a tool to identify their origin and establish a protocol for their safe return. To counteract the theft of mussels, a public awareness platform has been set up. It includes one Documentary and educational content.
The AI tool developed by FIFCO can classify mussels by ecosystem based on a photo, achieving a hit rate of up to 90% in seconds. Trained on more than 18,500 images from 525 different species, the model can effectively distinguish between Caribbean and Pacific mussels, ensuring proper reincorporation into their respective environments.
In 2024, more than 36,000 mussels were returned to their natural habitats and their function in marine ecosystems was restored. This milestone emptied storage containers at an airport and marked a change in the way Costa Rica addresses this issue.
The company has made the model’s open source code available to the scientific community, allowing other countries to train their own classification systems.
Further information can be found here: https://imperial.cr/devueltaacasa/
Photo – https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2602813/Back_Home_ID_b55503dd13bb.jpg
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