A new research project led by the University of Aberdeen and commercial oyster farm NativeAqua is aiming to revive the UK’s declining native oyster population using cutting-edge genetic techniques

Backed by £14,300 in funding from the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance and The Data Lab, the one-year project will use data-driven genetic analysis to improve the resilience and breeding success of the native oyster.

Once abundant, native oyster populations in UK waters have plummeted due to overfishing and climate change. The project seeks to reverse this trend by using genetic fingerprinting to select optimal breeding pair – an approach commonly used in agriculture, but being applied to native oysters for the first time.