Yesterday, UK Sailing Academy (UKSA) officially launched the Isle of Wight’s first oyster regeneration project in partnership with Blue Marine Foundation as its first oysters were placed in baskets beneath UKSA’s pontoons to breed.

The project will facilitate the release of millions of larvae into the Solent, while also providing refuge for other marine life including endangered European eels, young seahorse and sea bass. As ecosystem engineers, UKSA’s oysters will provide a range of benefits to the environment and people such as improving water quality, with a single oyster able to filter up to 200 litres of water every day. They also act as a natural defence to coastal erosion.

Despite the last known oyster fishery on the Isle of Wight closing in the 1970s, between 1972 and 2006, the Solent supported the largest native oyster fishery in Europe, however the oyster population has declined significantly and the fishery collapsed in 2013. Native oyster reefs in the UK have declined by 95 percent due to overfishing, pollution, disease, habitat loss and other pressures. Native oysters are classified as a priority species in the UK’s Biodiversity Action Plan and restoration is a high priority at a national, European and global level with an estimated 85 percent of oyster beds and reef habitats lost worldwide.

Ben Willows, CEO of UKSA said at the launch: “We’re excited to launch the oyster regeneration project today with great thanks to all those who have made it possible. It is a significant step forward for sustainability on the Island and we’re very proud to be housing the project at UKSA. This project is a great start in making a difference in the marine environment UKSA calls home.”

Eric Harris-Scott, Solent Project Officer at Blue Marine who talked through the project at the launch said: “Projects like this are a real team effort and the support of businesses like UKSA to enable our restoration work to grow is vital. We’re grateful for the efforts of all those involved to get this project off the ground and into the water today, and look forward to seeing how the oyster nurseries progress on the Island.”

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