We caught up with Lottie and Poppy Johns from Harbour Oysters to find out how the 4000 native oysters under the jetties at Emsworth Yacht Harbour are getting on. The oysters were introduced into cages under the jetties in March, a project funded through the Friends of Chichester Harbour.
The oyster cages need regular checks and maintenance; we joined Lottie and Poppy for their first look since the installation to see how the oysters have fared. They puled up one set of cages for an inspection…
Lottie was keen to get an understanding of how many of the oysters had died, and how many were thriving.
Take a look at this video to see what they found…
You can see from the video that there were several dead ones, but many were thriving and plenty of new growth was evident. One of the key benefits of the oyster cages is boosting biodiversity and there were a number of crabs and shrimps around the cages (we made sure they made it safely back into the water).
Another benefit of the project will be increasing the oyster spat (or larvae) in our harbour waters ahead of the planned native oyster reef restoration with the Solent Seascape Project later in the year.
Why do we care about native oysters?
For hundreds of years native oysters were abundant in Chichester Harbour. But native oyster populations across Europe have plummeted by 95% due to a number of factors including over-fishing, habitat loss, predation, pollution, and invasive non-native species. Oysters bring significant environmental benefits including for water quality – one oyster alone can filter up to 200 litres of water per day. They also remove nitrogen, sequester carbon and provide habitats for other marine life.
What’s next?
Lottie has plans for Harbour Oysters to install further oyster cages around Chichester Harbour and we look forward to working with her and learning as these projects progress.
Native Oysters in the Wild
The Solent Seascape Project has focussed on the restoration of natural native oyster habitat, in the form of oyster reefs. Following restoration sites in Langstone Harbour and the Hamble, the plan is to restore native oyster habitat here in Chichester Harbour later this year.