A new tool aimed at helping increase the native oyster (Ostrea edulis) population around the English coast has been launched, the Environment Agency announced on World Oceans Day, 8 June 2022.
Having seen native oyster populations decrease by 95% in England since the mid-1800s, the aim is to reverse this decline reinstating the multiple benefits that they bring, including cleansing seawater through filtration and increasing biodiversity and fish abundance.
Developed by academics from the University of Exeter and the University of Edinburgh for the Environment Agency, the new map data layer is on the ArcGIS (geographical information service) site and provides information on the location of historic native oyster records and distributions.
It will also sit on the Coastal Data Explorer, which is a public web mapping portal managed by the Catchment Based Approach initiative.
The tool can support local authorities, community partnerships and environmental organisations to make the case for native oyster restoration projects, one of the three estuarine and coastal habitats that are the focus of the Restoring Meadows, Marsh and Reef (ReMeMaRe) habitat restoration partnership project.
Created using data from government, and scientific and maritime bodies, and historic media accounts, the layer works alongside the Environment Agency’s Native Oyster Restoration Potential maps that highlight areas where oyster restoration could be successful, and the UK & Ireland Native Oyster Network and Environment Agency’s European Native Oyster Habitat Restoration Handbook that provides guidelines on how to restore these valuable habitats.
Environment Agency Estuary and Coast Planning Manager Roger Proudfoot said the release of information on where native oyster reefs were once present represents another milestone in the drive for more estuary and coast habitat restoration.
“We have lost 95% of our native oysters mainly due to overfishing. As well as being catastrophic for our marine ecosystem, we have also lost the multiple benefits that they once provided for us, including cleansing our waters through filtration and increasing biodiversity and fisheries.
We hope this new information on the historic locations of once thriving oyster reefs will lead to new opportunities for restoring what has been lost. We know that oyster restoration is possible, we just need more capacity to upscale the current efforts and we look forward to this new information inspiring more projects to restore this magnificent mollusc,” he said.
