A batch of 1,000 juvenile oysters have been put in the sea off the Isle of Wight as part of efforts to reverse the loss of the molluscs on the seabed.
The oysters have been placed in baskets hanging beneath a pontoon at Cowes Harbour. It is part of a scheme to bring back oyster reefs in the Solent, once the largest oyster fishery in Europe. It is hoped they will release millions of larvae and form beds that will improve water quality and create habitats for marine animals and plants.
Eric Harris-Scott, from Blue Marine Foundation, said the Solent “used to see about 50 million oysters pulled out every year”. He said: “A mixture of diseases, pollution and over-fishing led to their decline over the last 100 to 150 years and a loss of them as a habitat in the Solent.”
“Hopefully the oysters will be really happy in the water here… they will grow and start reproducing in the next year or so and will start pumping out millions of larvae which will hopefully settle on the reefs we have built in the area.”
