THE WI LD OYS T E R S P ROJ E C T, U K
The core aim of this three-year project is to boost the UK’s wild oysters and to kick-start a wider recovery of marine life across the food chain. Working with local partners, The Wild Oyster Project has installed 141 oyster nurseries in marinas and ports in Conwy Bay (Wales), Firth of Clyde (Scotland) and Tyne & Wear (England). Karen Stewart, education and outreach assistant for Groundwork Northeast, the project’s local delivery partner in Tyne & Wear, explains that its three main elements are oyster nurseries, habitat restoration (fostering healthy oyster reefs), education and outreach. In England, native oyster populations have
decreased by 95% since the mid-1800s, mostly because of over-harvesting, but also dredging, land reclamation, sewage and the introduction of non- native species. Wildlife charity Rewilding Britain reported that Scotland’s Firth of Forth, widely understood to have had the largest oyster bed anywhere in the world, was devoid of oysters. Without positive intervention, the fate of the
European native oyster is extinction. Human activity has had a devastating impact and now nature needs a helping hand to restore these habitats — this is where the Wild Oysters Project and its collaboration with the Zoological Society of London, Blue Marine Foundation and British
Marine comes in. Together, they’re working to increase the ambition, scale and number of local oyster reef restoration projects, and, as well as supporting local partners, they’ve produced an online guide to oyster nurseries so local communities are able to set up their own. An oyster nursery can serve two functions: to
grow juvenile native oysters to size away from predators or as a broodstock sanctuary for adult oysters to reproduce in — during previous projects, one billion oyster larvae released in the Solent came from 20,000 adult broodstock oysters taken from fisheries. Housed in cages on easily- accessible marina pontoons, the ultimate aim of inshore nurseries is to release oyster larvae to the seabed and recreate oyster reefs. Habitat regeneration is key to the success. Where
suitable habitat is no longer available, empty shells and gravel are emptied onto the seabed to act as a settlement substrate, where larvae will settle and create a new reef. The Environment Agency is working on a related project with the University of Exeter and the University of Edinburgh to produce data about the location of historic native oyster beds, plus maps about where restoration could be successful in the UK. In the right conditions, oyster reefs are self- sustainable and hugely valuable to the ecosystem
of estuary and coastal waters. As India Bourke said in a New Statesmen article in 2021, “When an oyster draws in water, its gills function like microscopic eyelashes, filtering out the suspended pollutants and releasing only clean water back into the sea […] Alive, they can help tackle the nitrogen washed off farmland by turning it into gas. Dead, their shells provide nesting sites for other creatures, forming the temperate equivalent of tropical coral reefs.”
HOW TO GET INVOLVED Local project partners and volunteers across the three Wild Oyster Project locations monitor and maintain the health of the oyster nurseries, donning warm clothes, knee pads, gloves and protective footwear to get hands-on and measure and monitor oysters and the biodiversity of the area. Engaging the local community is key to the success of the project, while school children get involved and learn about marine conservation. Current projects are underway in Conwy Bay,
Firth of Clyde and Tyne & Wear, with the ultimate goal of encouraging more oyster nurseries across the UK. Download the Guide to Oyster Nurseries in UK and Ireland via the project’s website for more information on how to get involved.
wild-oysters.org
National Geographic Traveller – Coastal Collection 27
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