From Frontlines To Reefs: Restoring Norfolk Oysters

Allie Wharf swapped the chaos of war zones for the gentle rhythms of the Norfolk coast. Once a senior foreign producer on Newsnight who covered Iraq, Afghanistan and, until recently, mass graves in Ukraine, she has turned her energy to rebuilding lost seabed life. Together with partner Willie Athill and collaborators at Norfolk Seaweed and Oyster Heaven, Wharf leads the Luna Oyster Project — an ambitious plan to bring four million native oysters back to the North Sea. The scheme uses fired clay “mother” reef bricks, the first mass deployment of their kind, to recreate the hard surfaces juvenile oysters need to settle on. The structures were placed two miles offshore, and millions of spat from Morecambe Bay will be relocated into their crevices this April. The project is as much paperwork as it is handiwork. The licence run-up took over three years, involved an application running to 280 pages and cost in the six-figure range. The team had to navigate the same regulatory scrutiny usually applied to oil and gas platforms, despite the aim being biodiversity restoration. Caring for oysters is meticulous. The team treats the juveniles almost like infants, tending them in carefully controlled hatcheries and even debating whether to play locally recorded sea sounds to avoid stressing the animals. Oysters react to light, pressure and noise — they can alter sex, respond to tiny pressure changes by snapping shut when a hatchery door opens, and in one hatchery the females only released eggs on Mondays, a pattern the team linked to quieter conditions over the weekend. Beyond their odd behaviours, oysters deliver huge ecological returns. Each can filter around 200 litres of water a day, and historical reefs once kept North Sea waters much clearer. Restored beds act as natural wave-breaks, stabilise shorelines and turn featureless mud into layered habitats bustling with life. A trial in the Netherlands saw a rapid return of marine species — more than 12 million new crabs, worms, fish and microbes within a year. The effort also brings local benefits. The project has created jobs for ecologists, managers and crew, reviving skills tied to shellfisheries. Much of the funding comes from Purina, which supports the work as a way of safeguarding fish stocks that factor into its supply chain. From reporting conflict to rebuilding reefs, Wharf and her team are betting on a quiet revolution: tiny, sensitive animals remaking a scarred seabed into thriving marine country. --- Managing your business finances? TaxAce provides smart online accountancy services for UK businesses with flexible monthly plans. Image and reporting: https://www.theguardian.com | Read original article