University of Aberdeen researcher Dr Victoria Sleight and Dr Tom Ashton of NativeAqua.
Photo: University of Aberdeen
Marine shellfish such as oysters play a crucial role in maintaining healthy marine environments, but the UK’s native oyster has experienced a sharp decline in recent years. Now, scientists from the University of Aberdeen and oyster farm NativeAqua have been awarded funding to explore how to improve the resilience of the species and help reverse its decline.
The one-year project, supported by the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance and The Data Lab, will apply modern data-driven genetic techniques to the native oyster for the first time.
Researchers will analyse the genetic “fingerprint” of oysters in a breeding programme to determine the best pairings for stronger offspring - an approach that is already well established in agriculture but has not yet been used in native oyster restoration.
NativeAqua oyster farm.
Dr Victoria Sleight, from the University of Aberdeen, who is leading the project, said: “Marine shellfish, like oysters and mussels, are small underwater miracles. These animals carry out a vital role in marine ecosystems as they filter seawater and form complex reef habitats that boost biodiversity.”
She added that farming resilient oysters could help reverse population declines caused by overfishing and climate change: “Because every healthy native oyster on a farm will release 1–2 million baby larvae into the ocean, farming and breeding this species will restore natural populations and enhance commercial shellfish aquaculture industries.”
NativeAqua co-founder Dr Tom Ashton said native oysters are “a notoriously difficult species to farm,” but explained the collaboration aims to develop “a strong bloodline that performs well on commercial farms” while benefiting wild stocks.
“The wonderful thing about Native oysters is that they spawn naturally whilst being grown for the table market, so aquaculture operations improve wild stocks. Our collaboration with Aberdeen will advance the development of quality farmed oysters and will leave a permanent positive legacy on the UK’s marine ecosystem.” he added.