Recap
Last year, we were involved in restoring oysters back into the Firth of Forth (hint: we provided the oysters!).
You can read all about those efforts here.
For those unaware, and as covered previously, the oyster beds in Firth of Forth covered an extensive area of approximately 166 km², thus making them arguably the largest European Flat oyster (Ostrea edulis) beds in the world. By the start of the 20th century they were extinct, a true environmental tragedy. This is where the WWF #RestorationForth project comes in, it aims to reverse this situation.
Progress Update
Recently, the project team has been surveying the oysters on site, and the news is good. The oysters are happy in their new home and are thriving, with an 85% survival rate.
This is a great result because some natural wastage is to be expected. These oysters have been through a very thorough biosecurity process to prepare them for deployment. It is an unfortunate fact that this process is very stressful for the animals, which would typically be expected to lead to mortalities. Despite this, the high survival rate is very encouraging.
We look forward to being able to share further updates on this project as they become available but in the meantime here is an article on Sky News that provides some more background and some nice images.