Belgium greenlights project to restore oyster beds in North Sea
Belgium has given the green light for the Belreefs project, which aims to restore the disappearing oyster beds in the Belgian North Sea. The Marine Environment Department of the FPS Public Health is working with scientists and companies on the project.
Oysters play an important role in restoring biodiversity in the North Sea. They disappeared at the end of the 19th century due to overfishing and activities that disturbed the seabed. With the Belreefs project, the FPS Public Health aims to restore the oyster beds in the North Sea.
This is done using the 'remote setting' technique, where oyster larvae are transferred from a hatchery to tanks. These tanks contain artificial substrates made from biodegradable materials on which the larvae can settle. When the young oysters reach the right size, the substrates are placed on the seabed.
"The European oyster has always been an important core species in our North Sea, but it has since almost completely disappeared," says Senne Aertbeliën of the Marine Environment Department. "The active recovery of these populations is therefore a priority for us. The fact that we can cooperate on this scale with scientists and companies to this end is unique."
Self-sustaining oyster beds
The Marine Environment Department of the FPS Public Health is working on the project with the Jan De Nul Group, the Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Shells & Valves and Mantis Consulting. Experiments were carried out in collaboration with ILVO, the Flemish Fish Auction and the Port of Oostende,
The first oysters will be put into the North Sea at the end of the summer. The final goal of the project is long-term restoration, which means that the oyster beds will eventually become self-sustaining.
#FlandersNewsService | PHOTO © ZUMA Press
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